The High Court (Commercial Court 3), Accra, presided by Her Lordship Justice Doris Awuah Dabanka-Bekoe on Friday granted a preservation order in favour of Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML), directing the preservation of the company’s equipment installed at all 25 fuel depots across the country, pending the determination of the company’s ongoing legal dispute with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The equipment covered by the preservation application includes Automatic Tank Gauges (ATGs), ultrasonic flow meters, Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), satellite equipment, power shelters, solar systems, cables and other technical infrastructure deployed by SML in the performance of its contractual obligations to the GRA.

These installations formed part of the technological systems that SML says it used in the delivery of the various measurements, audits, and verification services undertaken by the company.

The application for the preservation order followed a civil action instituted by SML against the GRA after the company received a letter from the Authority requesting that it remove its equipment installed at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) depot.

In an interview, Cephas Boyuo, Esq., Corporate Lawyer of SML, described the court’s decision as a step in the right direction, expressing confidence in the company’s case and its prospects of recovering its investment.

He indicated that SML was confident that, just as the court had granted the preservation order to protect the equipment pending trial, it would ultimately uphold the company’s claim for more than US$500 million after hearing the substantive case.

According Lawyer Boyuo, the preservation order represents an important development in protecting the company’s interests while the parties await the determination of the substantive dispute.

He expressed confidence that the evidence and legal arguments to be presented at trial would support SML’s claim for the recovery of its investment outlay.

Lawyer Boyuo further stated that following receipt of GRA’s letter requesting the removal of its equipment, SML commenced legal proceedings against the Authority, seeking recovery of its investment outlay, estimated at over US$500 million, in connection with the services it provided under its contractual arrangements with the GRA.

The company has said its contractual services included transaction audits and external price verification, downstream petroleum measurement audits, upstream petroleum measurement audits, and solid minerals measurement audits, and that these services formed part of SML’s engagement in the measurement, monitoring, verification, and auditing of activities within the petroleum and solid minerals sectors.

The preservation order seeks to maintain the existing position regarding the equipment while the court considers the substantive issues raised by the parties.

It is intended to safeguard the subject matter of the litigation and prevent the removal or interference with the equipment from prejudicing the proceedings, subject to the precise terms of the order.

According to lawyer Boyuo, the dispute concerns both SML’s protection of its installed equipment and the recovery of what the company says is a substantial investment it made in fulfilling its contractual obligations.

The company maintains that it is entitled to recover its investment outlay, and proceedings will therefore provide an opportunity for SML and the GRA to argue out their respective positions on the contractual relationship, the investments, and the circumstances surrounding the request for the removal of the equipment.