Miss Universe 2017 made to pay Rs 4 Lakh as duty at Mumbai airport for crown

2017 world pageant winner, South African Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, landed at the airport at 7 pm, stuck at the airport till 1 am, courtesy customs row over the crown

Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters lost her beauty sleep on Thursday night, after she was made to wait for six hours at the international airport and then forced to pay Rs 4 lakh in customs duty for a mere replica of her crown.

The South African beauty queen is in the city to judge a beauty contest. She had arrived at 7 pm on Thursday, but was only allowed to exit the airport at 1 am yesterday. Miss Universe Demi-Leigh was crowned with the famous Mikimoto tiara in 2017. She did not bring the original Rs 1.77 crore diadem to Mumbai, however, and brought a replica instead.

Despite that, when she landed at Mumbai airport at 7 pm on Thursday, the Immigration department asked her to wait and pay duty on the duplicate crown. Immigration officers asked about the value of the replica, and arrived at an estimate of Rs 11 lakh.

Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters at the airport on Friday

Confusion over duty
There was some confusion about whether duty ought to be levied on the crown, and eventually, the officers concluded that beauty pageants are not exempt. Officers then asked her to pay 40 per cent customs duty. After a hue and cry for six hours over the hefty charge, Demi-Leigh coughed up R4 lakh, and was then allowed to leave.

Her team said that the organisers had already informed Customs about the crown and had completed all the paper work. Her publicist shared, "Her flight was delayed, and by the time it landed, a new shift had begun at the customs. The officers in the earlier shift, who had been informed about her arrival and the needed clearance, had not done a proper handover of the paperwork. So she had to wait till it was done again." Demi-Leigh is scheduled to judge a beauty contest this evening at NSCI, Worli.

Not the first time
A similar incident took place in April 2011, when customs held the original ICC World Cup trophy, demanding custom duty of around Rs 15 lakh. ICC officials did not pay the dues, and allegedly took a replica to the Wankhede stadium instead.

The replica was allegedly handed over to the Indian cricket team, which won the final. However, officials later claimed that they had left the replica with the customs department, and had handed over the original trophy to the Indian captain.
Inputs by Shaheen Parkar

Not just any crown
Not every Miss Universe gets to wear the famed Mikimoto crown, worth $250,000 (approx Rs 1.7 cr). Made in Japan, it's thought to be one of the most beautiful Miss Universe crowns. The tiara depicts the phoenix rising, signifying status, power, and beauty.

120 No. of South Sea and Akoya pearls
2.5 Lakh Value of the crown
800 No. of round, brilliant-cut diamonds

Also Read: Customs Dept Seeks To Proclaim Nirav Modi As Absconder In Duty Evasion Case

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