Hardik Pandya – 5 Crore worth 2 watches seized: Things are not going too well for Hardik Pandya these days at almost every front. Earlier after below-par performance at the T20 World Cup, Hardik was dropped from the Indian squad for the series vs New Zealand. And the Indian all-rounder is now reportedly in trouble with the customs department. It is being reported that the customs officials have impounded two luxury watches worth Rs 5 crore from the cricketer on his arrival from Dubai – Follow LIVE Updates
Hardik Speaks Out: Hardik now himself has confirmed the development. But denied any wrongdoing on his part. According to Hardik, ‘he himself walked to customs to pay duty on the watches he bought from Dubai’.
Hardik further has clarified that ‘value of the watches is 1.5 Cr not 5 Cr as floated by the media’
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) November 16, 2021
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More trouble for Hardik Pandya, custom officials seize two watches worth 5 Crore from Indian all-rounder: Report
According to various reports, the incident happened when Hardik was returing from Dubai after playing in the T20 World Cup. According to the reports, the stylish Indian cricketer was stopped by the custom officers at the Mumbai airport & he was asked to produce the invoice for the two luxury watches in his possession.
Custom officials noticed a discrepancy in the serial numbers mentioned on the watches and invoice.
But according to Hardik, he himself walked to Custom Officials to pay duty for the watches.
“I had voluntarily declared all the items that I had purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay the duties. As a matter of fact, Customs deparments asked me for the papers which have been duly submitted”, Hardik confirmed.
Contrary to what Pandya claims in his official statement, TOI has quoted sources and has said, he had declared these watches as pre-owned ones, but the serial numbers did not match. The new ones cost Rs 5 crore, but Pandya had declared the price as Rs 1.8 crore—one costing Rs 1.4 crore and other Rs 40 lakh.
The cricketer did not had correct invoices for the watches, nor had he declared these watches as customs items. As a consequence, the customs officials confiscated his watches.
Patek Philippe Nautilus in gold most likely. https://t.co/IZpWw2KyJn
— Sidin Whataycute (@sidin) October 5, 2019
Brother Krunal Pandya also was detained by CUSTOM OFFICIALS last year after IPL 2020
Earlier last year, Mumbai Indians all-rounder & elder brother of Hardik, Krunal Pandya was stopped and questioned by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) personnel at the Mumbai International Airport after he returned back from IPL 2020.
DRI sources at that point of time had said that cricketer had not declared four expensive watches and the same were seized from his possession.
DRI officials found that the four luxury watches, which were of Omega and Ambular Piguet, were not declared by Pandya to Customs and no duty had been paid for the same. The watches were suspected to be worth below Rs 1 crore in value.
What does the country’s custom LAWS say? According to Customs law, a passenger can carry items/goods worth up to R50,000 as free allowance and won’t have to declare at the customs. If a passenger is carrying items of a higher value, they must be declared at customs on arrival, and can attract duty of around 36%
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