Court of Appeal orders companies to issue only SLSI-approved LPG

The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered the two Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) companies, Litro Gas Ltd. and Laugfs Gas PLC to only distribute cylinders that are approved by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) 

in future.

This Interim Order was issued by Appeals Court Judges Ruwan Fernando and Sampath Wijeratne when the writ application filed by public interest litigation activist Nagananda Kodituwakku was taken up yesterday.

He alleged that the importation and distribution of substandard LPG have resulted in a spate of fires and explosions countrywide.

The panel of Judges also ordered the two gas companies to recall all the unused gas cylinders that have already been released to the market. Both Litro Gas and Laugfs Gas were directed to display a sticker indicating the composition of LPG on the cylinders hereafter.

In his petition, Kodituwakku also sought the Appeals Court to direct the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to initiate criminal investigations against Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, Consumer Protection State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Chairman, and the SLSI Director-General on the matter.