Click to play videoNew Delhi: Thirty-eight-year-old Pushpa Lekhumal Tolani, when boarding a flight to India from Indonesia in November 2002, didn't think that carrying her personal jewellery would land her in big trouble.
British passport holders, Pushpa and husband Sonjoy had carried their jewellery several times before to India but this time when they landed, the Department of Revenue Intelligence lay in waiting.
After interrogations, Pushpa was arrested on charges of evading duties.
"She was put in a place with mice and cockroaches. We had just flown in and we had no idea what we had done wrong. She was put behind bars, her freedom taken away. It was not easy," says Sonjoy.
For Sonjoy and Pushpa, it was a battle which lasted four years. First the lower court convicted them and slapped a fine of Rs 6 lakh. They then filed a civil petition in the High Court.
After two years, they have now been exonerated by the High Court.
Setting aside the lower court order, the High Court indicted the Department of Revenue Intelligence for its overenthusiastic approach.
"The court's order read: 'The appeal is allowed and the impugned order of conviction is dated 27 September 2004 and the order of sentence was dated 15 October 2004 are set aside. Acquitted of all charges'. You cannot understand what it was for us. It was like music to our ears," says a visibly thrilled Sonjoy.
Sonjoy and Pushpa are looking to put behind all the bad memories and start life on a clean slate.
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