Bouquets, not brickbats for this duty-evader

TNN / Jan 13, 2007, 02:51 IST

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Officials fall over each other to greet Sushmita, who came for an octroi case hearing.

Bouquets, not brickbats for this duty-evader

MUMBAI: Sushmita Sen would have felt as though she had done a commendable service to the nation rather than break the law when she visited the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters on Friday.
She was received warmly with bouquets by senior officials while lower level employees crowded corridors and stairs for a glimpse of the former Miss Universe.
Sushmita visited the municipal building opposite Azad Maidan in connection with an octroi evasion case. She had allegedly underpaid the duty on her Toyota Land Cruiser. The vehicle was imported in the name of Vasu Tamani, an NRI, and then registered in Mumbai.
At the time of registration, she had declared the value of the car at Rs 26 lakh. When octroi department officials went through the custom's documents, they realised the car was actually worth Rs 40 lakh and the octroi for this is Rs 2.16 lakh.

On Friday, Sushmita arrived in a white Lexus dressed in blue jeans, a green full-sleeve T-shirt and dark glasses. She first went to the chief vigilance officer's cabin where officials had gathered outside the office to welcome her.
They presented her a bouquet. Madhukar Vade, chief vigilance officer, defended the welcome, saying, "After all she is a Ms Universe so the welcome was natural," he said.
She was then taken to the third-floor office of the joint municipal commissioner Satish Bhide. At the hearing, the actress again made a strong appeal to waive the penalty. She has now been asked to submit a written statement before January 22.

While she was talking, the BMC employees stopped work and trooped on the third-floor, crowding corridors as well as the stairs. Women employees came out in large numbers, many of them armed with mobile cameras to capture the beauty for posterity.
As the meeting came to an end, security guards rushed to stop the lift but owing to the crowds, Sushmita took the stairs waving to the crowd as she moved down who happily waved back. It was a full day.
According to rules, if a person is caught evading octroi he/she is liable to be charged 10 times the original amount.
The BMC had then issued a notice to her asking her to pay the octroi of Rs 2.16 lakh as well as the penalty of Rs 22 lakh. The actress had shown willingness to pay the octroi, but requested the BMC to waive the penalty.
She then approached Bombay HC for the waiver of the penalty. It directed her to pay the octroi, while asking the BMC to issue a notice to her, give a hearing and decide within four weeks. She was also directed to give a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh in favour of the BMC valid for the period pending the issue of penalty.

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