Sachin pays penalty for house clearance

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 bungalow without having the occupancy certificate.

"Sachin paid the amount after BMC issued a notice seeking recovery of Rs 4.35 lakh penalty
as illegal occupancy charge," a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said on Thursday.

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.

"We have issued the OC to Sachin after receiving necessary documents and the fine amount," he said.

After the BMC notice to Tendulkar, Mayor Shraddha Jadhav of Shiv Sena had said that there cannot be any exceptions to the rule, but textiles minister Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan, who is the guardian minister for Mumbai suburbs, had spoken to Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar requesting him to waive the penalty.

"Sachin is an icon who has brought international laurels to the country. Kumar told me that he would examine the issue and act accordingly," Khan had said.

The villa has been reconstructed on a plot that housed a dilapidated bungalow, which Sachin had bought for Rs 39 crore in 2007.