The Customs authorities in Mumbai detained the cricket World Cup trophy at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on early Friday when it arrived from Colombo. The Customs detained the trophy, as no commercial value was attached to it making it difficult to assess the duty.
An International Cricket Council (ICC) representative had carried the trophy and also a covering letter not addressed to anyone, but saying, "To whomsoever it may concern".
Customs officials said that the letter mentioned that this property is not for commercial purposes and hence has nil value.
The representative arrived at around 2am by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight with the trophy kept in an aluminum box. The trophy made of silver and gold weighed around 11kg.
A senior Customs official, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media said that the trophy was detained because under Customs Act there is no duty exemption for the same.
"The ICC should have in advance approached the government and got adhoc exemption for the trophy through a notification," the official said explaining the procedure for getting exemption in such cases.
The Customs officials called experts to find out the value of the trophy following which the duty on the same would be ascertained. The experts were busy ascertaining the value of the trophy till evening.
Officials said after the duty is paid, the trophy would be released.
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