Mumbai: A right to information activist on Saturday raised questions whether cricketer Sachin Tendulkar had paid the penalty imposed on him last year for illegally occupying his new bungalow in Bandra here without obtaining the necessary clearances.
Activist Anil Galgali, who was denied details on the issue by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), claimed that either Tendulkar had not paid the full fine, or he had been given partial remission by the civic agency.
“Now, they (officials) are scared that if this matter becomes public, they could face action, or other violators could treat this case as a precedent and demand concessions,” Galgali, who sought the information under the transparency law, told IANS.
Galgali contended that if Tendulkar had indeed paid the penalty, then it was public money and its information could be shared with him under the Right To Information (RTI) law.
Responding to Galgali’s RTI query a few weeks ago, the BMC said that it contacted Tendulkar for his clearance but he declined to share the information with the applicant.
Galgali accused the BMC officials of violating the RTI Act by stonewalling queries pertaining to a public document in which penalties have been imposed and paid for the cricketer’s illegal occupancy of the five-storeyed bungalow at 19-A, Perry Cross Road, in Bandra, Mumbai.
Tendulkar and his family, in a traditional grihapravesh ceremony, occupied the new Bandra bungalow on Sep 28, 2011 on the auspicious Navratri day without getting the mandatory occupation certificate, which raised a controversy.
Sachin’s Bandra bungalow is said to comprise double level basement parking for nearly four dozen vehicles.
One floor of the bungalow serves as his personal museum, displaying the hundreds of medals, cups, honours, citations and other rewards he won during his two-decades-plus cricket career. (IANS)