There has never been a dearth of instances in our country, where law has been applied differently to different people. If you are a celebrity, politician or a high profile individual, the law will be lenient towards you but if you are an ordinary citizen then the law will be applied stringently.
An instance when this discrimination was displayed when Sajid Sayed, a builder, was arrested by the customs at the international airport on Friday, for an alleged offence which exactly a day ago, Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba was also guilty of.
The result: Lamba, thanks to her celebrity status, was questioned and asked to leave and wait for her fine and penalty to be decided. But the builder, who was returning from Singapore, was detained and arrested.
According to the customs, Sayed, owner of SV Builders, was accused of mis-declaration of over Rs10 lakh. He was found in possession of a Rado watch, expensive perfumes and undeclared $5,500. While all the rules were religiously followed in Sayed’s case, leading to his arrest; they were conveniently bent in the case of Minissha Lamba and earlier, in the case of Goa’s education minister Atanasio Monserrate, who were detained with far more serious charges of duty evasion.
According to sources, this benefit of doubt for the celebrities is due to the thin line of difference between a guideline and a rule. While the guideline of the board states that anybody accused of an evasion over Rs5 lakh can be arrested under section 104 of the Customs Act, it is not a hard and fast rule and is at the discretion of the commissioner.
While the Monserrate was reportedly given the benefit of his status as the member of legislature, Lamba was also counted amongst the well-known faces, who would be available for questioning as and when required. Whereas, Sayed was considered to be someone who could hide or evade the customs and therefore arrested.
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