A former minister's unregistered BMW case — same rules for VIPs and us?

This month a court case made headlines: a black BMW with no legal import record, found parked at a Colombo hotel the day before the last Presidential Election, turned out to be registered to former minister Johnston Fernando. Customs says the chassis was never legally imported and the vehicle had been illegally assembled; he has told the court he intends to plead guilty on related Motor Traffic Act charges, though he disputes being charged with import tax fraud itself. The verdict is due on November 11. Ordinary buyers caught with an unregistered or wrongly declared import usually face an RMV hold, a customs fine, and sometimes the car seized outright, with no quiet way out. Some say any conviction here, however small, is proof the law can still reach anyone; others say three Motor Traffic Act charges for a fully assembled luxury car most people couldn't even get on the road is a soft landing you only get with the right connections. If you've ever had a vehicle held up over paperwork or unpaid taxes, how were you treated? Do you think this case ends differently for someone without a political title? මේ වගේ නඩුවක අවසානය සාමාන්‍ය මිනිසාට සහ බලධාරීන්ට සමානද?