Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor found himself in an embarrassing situation on Saturday, as the Customs officials detained him at the city international airport and imposed a fine of `60,000 on him for carrying undeclared branded personal goods on his return from london.
Thirty-year-old Ranbir, who arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) from london by a British Airways flight, was intercepted by the Customs officials while he was walking away without declaring branded personal goods that he was carrying.
“The actor was walking past the red channel towards the airport exit without declaring the dutiable goods that he was carrying, when our officials intercepted him. After his luggage was checked, he was found with branded goods such as perfumes, clothes and footwear worth about Rs 93,000 which he ought to have declared before the officials at the red channel,” Customs Deputy Commissioner Sameer Wankhede told The Pioneer.
During questioning after detention, the actor told the officials that he was not aware of the baggage rules that necessitated him to declare the dutiable goods while passing through the red channel.
The actor was detained for 45 minutes - a period during which he was questioned, his luggage was checked and was fined Rs 60,000 on undeclared personal goods.
According to baggage rules for passengers arriving from international destinations, branded goods above the permissible limit of Rs 25,000 have to be declared to customs authorities. The goods over and above the free allowances attract customs duty of 36.05 per cent (which includes an education cess of 3 per cent)
However, celebrities-- returning from international destinations -- being detained and fined by the Customs officials at the CSIA for non-declaration of dutiable goods is a regular feature.
In the recent past, actresses Dia Mirza, Minissha lamba, Bipasha Basu, Anushka Sharma and television and film producer Ekta Kapoor had similarly been detained and fined by the Customs officials for not declaring the dutiable goods that they were carrying on their return from abroad.