The allegation is that the company has been defrauding the state, that means the poor people of this country, to the tune of tens of millions. The company denies this. The company has complained that gung-ho tactics had been used. The Customs denies this now. None other than the president has intervened to ask the Customs to act according to the law.
Nobody can complain when the customs is asked to act according to the law.
But, accompanying the official statement is the uncontradicted story that the Customs investigator who raided the company has been pulled out of the probe which the Customs say they did anyway. The chairman of that company was recently appointed by President Kumaratunga as chairman of the national carrier AirLanka. The public will therefore be closely watching the developments of this investigation. Otherwise the people could turn round and say 'though all are equal before the law' its just that some are more equal before the law if they have links in high places.