The Chennai Customs authorities ended their silence regarding the circulating video showing an alleged harassment incident involving Malaysian couples and made a clarification about the matter.
The context of the video is that a Malaysian woman of Indian origin recently shared a video on social media, detailing her negative experiences at Chennai Airport during her trip from Malaysia to Chennai.
Among other things, she mentioned that upon her arrival at Chennai Anna International Airport, she was asked to remove her gold mangal sutra/thaali. When she declined to do so, she and her husband were detained by Indian Customs for over two hours. Certain news channels also covered this incident.
The Chennai Customs clarified that her allegations are baseless and contradict the official records of the event.
As per the customs clarification, the Customs Officers observed that two passengers were wearing a substantial amount of jewellery, which seemed to exceed the permissible limit for duty-free import. These passengers were leaving the airport without declaring the jewellery to Customs.
When requested to disclose the specifics of the gold jewellery they were wearing for the purpose of declaration, she declined to provide the information, arguing that the items were her personal belongings and should not be disclosed, claimed the Chennai Customs.
The authorities clarified that contrary to the claims made in the video clip, she was not asked to remove her mangal sutra/thaali.
The officials stated that “instead of cooperating with the officers, both passengers engaged in arguments.”
Nevertheless, following prolonged discussions, the husband of the lady eventually agreed to remove his gold chain and bangle. The combined weight of these items was approximately 285 grams (equivalent to 35 sovereigns) with an estimated value of Rs. 15 Lakhs.
The Customs duty payable on these items was assessed to be around Rs. 6.5 Lakhs. However, when asked to pay the applicable Customs duty, the passenger refused to comply with the payment.
Therefore, the 285 grams of jewellery were seized and a receipt was issued to the passenger. Following appropriate procedures, the detained jewellery was returned to the passenger during their return journey to Malaysia on 23.07.2023, as they had paid the fine and penalty as per the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
The customs authorities added that “According to Rule 3 of the Baggage Rules 2016 an Indian resident passenger or a tourist of Indian origin is permitted to clear free of duty articles (including gold jewellery other than those mentioned in Annexure I to the Baggage Rules 2016 upto the value of 50,000/- rupees.”
