Imported cars and the obsession they spell - they spell more oomph, more charisma, more attention and a bigger better status signature, undoubtedly.

Let’s not get into the age old statement with a smirk that in a country where people die of starvation and farmers commit suicide for not being able to pay loans worth Rs. 2500, why do we have celebrities paying an import duty of Rs. 1.13 crore for an imported car?? We have celebrities and we have made them and we love them more when they are in such cute and sweet trouble. We feel for them.

The latest sweet-heart to get into this is Shushmita Sen. She tried to skirt a transaction after tax evasion in importing her new Toyota Land Cruiser. She claims to have sent money to an importer at an address which is non-existent, according to an MCGM vigilance officer. Shush also seemed a little confused about whether the car was used or new. To the Road transport officer’s office it was declared new but everywhere else it was declared a used one. So a car worth US $36000 was shown as a car worth US $6000 only. One fails to understand why at all hide that it was imported to Chennai before it came to Mumbai.

So the presence of so many details or rather the absence of so many details has prompted the MCMG to levy 10 times fine. Shushmita has moved the higher court challenging this decision. Good luck Shush, and we still love you.

The Indian audience gets its seasonal lessons on the rules over the imported cars once a year when either Sachin gets a gift from Ferrari ( for equaling the record of Sir Bradman), or when Vijaya Mallaya buys a Lamborghini ( because it was a pleasant sunday afternoon ) or when Amar Singh forgets who bought the car that he is driving and from where. Nearly half the bollywood drives imported cars and a Mercedes for sure is commonplace. Porsche is one of the hot favorites these days amongst the glitterati. BMW and Lexus are also joining the band with Mercedes in being very common.

For people who want to quite the itch of buying an imported vehicle, a good-to-know information: for importing a new bike one has to pay 105 % duty, for a used bike one has to pay100 %; in case of a car for a Completely Built unit one has to pay 111%, for a Completely Knocked Down model (assembled in the country) one has to pay 38 to 48 % only depending on the engine displacement. Not to forget the different other taxes and the tests that the cars or the bikes have to go through.