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Indian movie heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan has been fined for illegally using a plot of land in Delhi on which his family already owes Rs. 2.2 million in unpaid rent to the authorities.
A state-run housing agency has accused Khan of illegally using the land allotted to his late mother 17 years ago.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday issued a letter to the actor, who is his mother's heir, and ordered him to pay Rs 12,627 in fines within 15 days. "We have not heard from him yet," a top DDA official told IANS on Friday.
The DDA had allotted a 400 sq metre plot at Madangir shopping complex in south Delhi to Khan's mother Fatima Latif in 1984 on an annual licence fee of about Rs 300. The land is at present valued at Rs 20 million.
Latif got the plot as her husband had been a freedom fighter.
"She was given the site to run a kerosene oil depot with the help of Indian Oil Corporation," the official said. The depot was called Shah Oil Traders.
However, not only did the family fail to pay the license fee but it also built a residential complex at the site in violation of laws. When Khan refused to set right the wrong, the DDA threatened to raze the property.
Eventually, four houses at the site were demolished in August last year.
"Four families were living in them. While one family was breeding rabbits, another was preparing raw material for small eateries," the official said.
The DDA official said Khan had been charged with violating the license deed. "The money we are charging is for the expenditure we incurred while carrying out the demolition. If he fails to pay the amount, his property will be attached to recover the amount."
The official said Khan's family also owes Rs. 2.2 million to the DDA as unpaid rent for the plot from 1984 to 2000.
Khan's family also owns a restaurant outside the Safdarjung tomb in south Delhi.
This is not the first time that the popular actor has got into trouble with civic authorities.
He had to save his dream house in Bombay from being confiscated by the Maharashtra state government by coughing up Rs. 5.1 million in back taxes in October.
Khan paid the amount for the sprawling 26,300 sq. ft. property called Mannat although it was apparently the previous owners who owed the tax. Khan had purchased the property a few years ago.
The bungalow is located on land owned by the state government and rules say such land can be sold only if the owner shares the proceeds with the government.
Indo-Asian News Service
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