Custom made

When actor Minissha Lamba was detained at the Mumbai airport for carrying jewellery worth lakhs of rupees, it raised some eyebrows. But such incidents are not new. In the late 1990s, a Union minister was stopped at the Delhi airport for carrying expensive foreign liquor and other precious items without paying duty. The minister was fined heavily. He paid the fine without demur and walked away. But the assistant collector of customs, who actually fined him, paid a heavier price. The next day, she was transferred to the north-east. Since then, customs officers in Delhi simply keep stay away from top politicians.