Rahat leaves country after paying Rs 15 lakh fine

Pakistan singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who was detained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence with $ 1.24 lakh undeclared currency, has left the country after paying a fine of Rs.15 lakh. Official sources said Khan left by an Emirates flight to Lahore via Dubai on Tuesday evening.

Khan and his manager Maroof had on Monday paid Rs 15 lakh each by way of penalty slapped on them in connection with the huge amount of undeclared foreign currency recovered from them. The singer had collected his passport from the office of the DRI on Tuesday morning.

The duo was to board a Dubai flight on February 13 when DRI sleuths detained them at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi with the foreign currency.

After completing its probe, the DRI has charged them with violating provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act and Customs Act and sent the matter for adjudication to customs, they said. The customs department later imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on each of them.

The investigations against event manager Chitresh Shrivastava and two foreign exchange dealers of Mumbai, would continue, the sources said.

As per rules, no one can carry beyond $ 5,000 in cash and $ 5,000 in other instruments. A person has to declare the amount if he is carrying more than this to the customs department.