The Supreme Court on Friday directed M. Natarajan, husband of jailed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, and his nephew Bhaskaran to deposit ₹25 lakh each with the Supreme Court, surrender before the trial court and seek bail in the connection with the Lexus car import case.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra admitted their appeals against a November 18 order confirming the conviction and two-year sentence imposed by a lower court on them for causing a loss of ₹1.06 crore to the public exchequer in the import of a Lexus car from London in 1994 by falsely declaring it as an used car.
The Bench said it will hear the appeals on January 4.
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When Chief Justice Misra asked Bhaskaran’s counsel where he got the car from, the latter replied that his client had received it as a wedding “gift”. “Then you should have been proceeded against under the dowry harassment law,” Mr. Justice Misra retorted.
The counsel explained that his client got the “gift” from his paternal family and not from the “girl’s side”. “I have no role to play. I have not operated any bank accounts,” the counsel submitted.
The High Court, in a detailed judgment, concluded that the “brand new” Lexus car with an engine capacity of 3000 cc had been imported in total violation of the customs regulations.
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The court observed that the government’s export and import policy, as it prevailed in 1994, imposed restrictions on import of passenger cars with an engine capacity of more than 1,600 cc by Indian nationals as well as foreign nationals of Indian origin.