The Court of Appeal has dismissed a writ application filed by Daya Apparel (Pvt) Ltd challenging a decision by People’s Bank to auction a property mortgaged by the company to recover outstanding dues.The court ruled that the bank has the legal right to auction the property to recover more than US$1.42 million obtained by the company through the mortgage. It also ordered Daya Apparel to pay Rs. 1 million in legal costs.The application was heard before a bench comprising Justices Ratnapriya Gurusinghe and Sumudu Premachandra.In its petition, the company argued that it had suffered financial losses following the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the court rejected this argument, holding that the bank had acted within the law and had provided the company with several opportunities to settle its outstanding debt, including postponing proposed auctions on multiple occasions.

Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Alagiyawatta appeared for the petitioner, while Attorney-at-Law Jaliya Bodhinagoda represented People’s Bank.