Mumbai, June 09: The high-flying socialite Sheetal Mafatlal – for at least one night in her life – will have craved for the most basic of comforts as a local court on Monday sent her to jail custody. The court postponed the hearing of her bail application to Tuesday, which is why Sheetal – who is part of Mumbai’s jet-set – was forced to spend the night in prison.
The wife of industrialist and Mafatlal Mills owner Atulya Mafatlal was returning from London on Saturday night when she was arrested by customs authorities for carrying undisclosed jewellery worth Rs 53 lakh.
The officials accordingly booked her for duty evasion. And it was only after two nights and one day in customs detention that Sheetal was produced in the Esplanade court on Monday.
Sheetal sent to jail
Sheetal’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde – anticipating her early arrival on Monday – had reached the court in the morning itself. The socialite, however, was produced in the court only at 3 pm, wherein she was remanded to judicial custody.
Maneshinde immediately moved an application for Sheetal’s bail, but the court postponed it till Tuesday as the prosecution sought time to file a reply – in effect sending her to Byculla jail for at least a night.
A night in prison
After the court order, Sheetal was taken to St George Hospital for a medical examination, which found her to be physically fit.
At about 8 pm, she was taken to Byculla women’s jail where her name was entered in a register and her belongings deposited with the jail authorities before she was sent to the ‘after barrack’ (the barrack where undertrials spend their first night).
In the barrack, Sheetal was made to sleep on a thin, prickly coir mattress with around 50 hardcore criminals and a swarm of mosquitoes for company.
The creaking fan overhead, jail sources say, moves too slowly to beat the collective heat of bodies and the stench around, thanks to gutkha-chewing undertrials.
A far cry from her plasma TV at home, Sheetal had to make do with a portable TV with Doordarshan beaming national news – that too only till 9.30 pm.
As Maneshinde did not move court seeking home food for Sheetal, she had to make do with jail food, which is a simple course of three chapatis, one curry, one dal and a bowl of rice. At the time of going to press, it was not known whether Sheetal had had her meal.
New case facts
The customs department, in court, declared Sheetal was carrying six small bags on Saturday night when she was intercepted.
The officials found fifty items of undisclosed and dutiable stone jewellery in her baggage. Ninety per cent of the jewellery was brand new, but she had declared goods worth only Rs 20,000, the prosecution said.
The customs argued that the way Sheetal brought in the jewellery amounted to smuggling.
The defence for sheetal
Maneshinde, however, argued that all the jewellery was old and inherited from her paternal family and her in-laws.
He also said that she wore them often and was not aware that they fell under the ambit of custom duty.
Atulya, meanwhile, told media at the court that his wife was a victim of family feud.
Sheetal under duress
Even after two nights in Customs custody, Sheetal Mafatlal appeared at the Esplanade Court near CST on Monday, not a hair out of place. Whatever may be the emotional upheaval and humiliation churning inside, her appearance showed no signs of it.
In keeping with the gravity of the situation, she wore a sober peach chikan salwar kameez that covered her arms and a dupatta covering her trademark décolleté. The jewellery was deliberately downplayed – a simple topaz ring on the index finger of her right hand (usually prescribed to appease Jupiter), an eternity band on the wedding band finger and a large watch.
Large pearl and stone earrings were hidden by her long hair and firmly in place was the emblem of her social status – over-sized bumblebee glasses. Allowances had certainly been made, because Sheetal’s make-up was in place – so sign of distressed skin or the expected dark circles, thanks to deftly applied base, lower lids rimmed with kohl and white liner on the inner side, coral lipstick and gloss, and manicured nails.
The Sheetal that walked out of court seemed eerily exposed. Gone was the jewellery, the watch, the shades. Seemingly in preparation for her stay at the Byculla women’s jail, where she would have to hand over her belongings, Sheetal took off her valuables before she was taken to St George for medical assessment.
–Agencies–