Mumbai, May 1: The wife of business tycoon Sajjan Jindal,vice-chairman and managing director of JSW Steel,has been fined and penalised over Rs 10 lakh for carrying undeclared diamond jewellery and other imported valuables worth Rs 60 lakh when she returned from a trip abroad in October 2010, reports Mumbai Mirror.
Customs officials at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said that when Sangeeta Jindal arrived back she was carrying Rs 21 lakh worth of goods bought in London,in addition to undeclared jewellery worth Rs 39 lakh that she had taken with her while leaving from India.
Sangeeta Jindals case has now been adjudicated and she has been fined and penalised according to the Customs rules and regulations, said P M Govande,Commissioner,Customs.
Last October,Customs officers had called Sangeeta back to the airport as she had left before her baggage had been screened.While screening her baggage,Customs officers came across the jewellery she had taken with her and other imported goods which had not been declared.Ideally Sangeeta should have declared the jewellery she was carrying when she left for London in order to get an export certificate.But she did not do so.
On returning too,the jewellery was not declared.Over and above that,she also bought additional valuables worth Rs 21 lakh for which no duty was paid, a Customs officer said.Sangeeta had been booked under the Customs act for misdeclaration,which amounted to illegal importation of the good she had with her.
In her statement she told the Customs that she made the mistake of not declaring her goods and jewellery out of ignorance.The jewellery,which had been confiscated,will be returned to her after she pays the fine and penalty.
Sangeeta had gone to London for a function.While there,she had made purchases for another event that was to take place later in Mumbai.According to Custom rules,goods above Rs 25,000 must be declared at the Customs counter at the airport. Despite repeated calls and an email,Mithun Roy,a corporate communications official of JSW Steel declined to comment on the matter.
