Sachin Tendulkar fined Rs 4.35 lakh over new home

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Mumbai, Oct 20 (TruthDive): After facing the ire of the authorities, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has paid a fine of Rs 4.35 lakh to the Mumbai civic body for performing ‘vastu puja’ at his new five-storey mansion without having the occupancy certificate.
As per the law, one cannot enter a flat or building without receiving an OC for it. A senior official from the building proposals department said action could be initiated against Sachin by slapping a notice under Section 350 (A) of the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Act for occupying premises without an OC.
There was controversy after reports that Tendulkar had moved into his new bungalow last month without obtaining the OC for the house on Perry Cross Road in west Bandra.

The state government had asked BMC Commissioner Subodh Kumar to waive the penalty. Textiles minister Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan, who is the guardian minister for Mumbai suburbs, said he had spoken to Kumar.
“Sachin is an icon who has brought international laurels to the country. Subodh Kumar told me that he would examine the issue and act accordingly,” Khan told reporters. The minister said Sachin had complied with formalities for getting the OC.
The BMC had charged Tendulkar Rs 50 per sqm for the bungalow spread over 836 sqm and taking into account the fact that he has lived there for less than a week. Displaying his trademark humility, the cricket legend, however, chose to pay the fine to obtain occupancy certificate.
B Haridas, deputy chief engineer of the building proposal department, confirmed: “We have received all the required no-objection certificates from Tendulkar, who also paid the fine. So, the OC has issued to his new bungalow.”
A source told a leading daily, “Tendulkar did not want any concession from the BMC as it would have sent the wrong message. He was not aware that an OC is mandatory before moving in the new house though it is fit for habitation. As a law-abiding citizen, he wanted to pay the fine to correct his mistake and send a message that he is not above the law.”
The villa has been reconstructed on a plot that housed a dilapidated bungalow, which Sachin had bought for Rs 39 crore in 2007.