Pakistani singer Rahat Ali Khan, manager fined Rs 15 lakh

NEW DELHI: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and his manager Maroof have been fined Rs 15 lakh in connection with the recovery of undeclared foreign currency from them at IGI airport in Delhi last week.

Rahat and his 16-member troupe were detained for allegedly carrying $1.24 lakh (about Rs 60 lakh) of undeclared foreign currency at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

On Saturday, the duo was slapped with charges under Foreign Exchange Management Act and Customs Act by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. (Read: DRI slaps FEMA on Rahat)

Rahat was released after the Pakistan High Commission had assured that he will cooperate with the probe. Pakistan interior minister Rahman Malik had thanked home minister P Chidambaram for Rahat's release.

Investigating agencies had also questioned a number of other persons in the case.

As per norms, no one can carry beyond $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in other instruments. A person has to declare the amount if he is carrying more than this to the Customs Department.

According to sources, the payments by an event manager to Rahat were made in Indian currency and US dollars and these people were allegedly found converting the dollars to Indian rupees "through unauthorised channels".