In an exclusive given to BollySpice, we report to you that Shilpa Shetty has been harassed yet again at an International airport.
Shilpa Shetty and a company of about fifty British and Russian dancers and technicians were traveling together to Germany for the premiere of her new musical ‘Miss Bollywood’ when an official at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai treated her very badly. An inspector named Mr P. Deshmukh of the Immigration Department harassed and humiliated Shetty as she tried to board her flight.
Her spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar said, “She called me in the middle of the night and was in tears as an Inspector by the name of Mr P. Deshmukh had treated her badly, spoken to her in an absolute rude and uncalled manner, and gruffly told her, she could not travel out of the country as there was no clearance order from the court.”
“This is not a sole incident. From the last few months, every time Shilpa travels out of the country, the immigration authorities hassle her. So much so that one could think, they get some kind of sadistic pleasure in doing so,” he added.
“Is she expected to carry a copy of the Supreme Court order all her life? Will the authorities take decades to note the court development?” Bhagwagar asks.
The Supreme Court order Bhagwagar speaks of is a result of the brouhaha that was created when Richard Gere kissed Shilpa on the cheek during an AIDS awareness event. There was an uproar in parts of India and cases against the two were even filed in the courts. Then the Supreme Court issued a directive that all the cases be transferred to a Mumbai court and so many cases were dropped.
However one court in Rajasthan has all ready “issued a “a ‘look out notice’ for Shilpa at various airports through the Police. The notice said that the actress shouldn’t be allowed to leave the country till the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty case was over. When Shilpa appealed to the Supreme Court against this, the order was quashed by the said court, and the actress was given permission to travel abroad.”
“This happened around three months ago, but the immigration authorities at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, just seem to refuse taking note of this clearance of Shilpa’s name by the Supreme Court,” said her spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar.
“I know that they (immigration personnel) were doing their duty, but there is certain decorum to be maintained, even when one is doing his duty,” Shilpa told Bhagwagar over the phone, just before catching her flight. “I can understand something like this if I’d committed a criminal offence. But what was my offence, when I’m just an actor, going to perform a musical on foreign land, representing my country. I don’t need to be treated like this in my own country! It’s terrible! It’s really shocking,” she added.
“It’s not Shilpa’s fault that Richard Gere planted pecks on her cheek. It’s not her fault that some airport personnel are unprofessional. It’s not her fault that their computers do not reflect the clearance from the court. It’s not her fault that she is a celebrity. Why should she pay a price for that?” asked Bhagwagar, and added, “It happens only in India.”
When asked if Shilpa planned to take action against the immigration authorities? Bhagwagar said, “Yes, she was keen to consult her lawyers in the matter.”
