In an exclusive interview with The Quint, Taapsee Pannu opened up about going through the recent income tax raids that were conducted on her premises. Speaking about the raids the actor first revealed how she got to know about the searches being conducted by the I-T department, “I was told when they visited me, they told me that my residences in Mumbai and Delhi are also being searched, I was informed.”
Did Taapsee Expect a Raid to Happen?
“I don’t think I expected a raid will happen, but my family especially, they didn’t expect at all, for them it was out of the blue, so they were more perturbed, because they didn’t expect it at all. But thin I was like, I know I am in the public eye, and we pay a cost for being a public figure. So you need to be ready for any kind of scrutiny at any point. It can be IT, it can be NCB, it can be anything. I think last couple of years, or last couple of months, has already made me aware that anything can happen. This is the cost you have to pay for being a public figure and I am perfectly okay with it, because when you haven’t done anything wrong, I don’t know why should I fear. If there has been a human error I will pay up for it as a punishment or whatever it is I am supposed to do. But I am not a criminal, I haven’t done anything illegal criminally, so I am not scared of any of those consequences.”
Are the Raids Politically Motivated?
“When I accessed my phone and social media, this is what people told me that this is what was running on news, this was one angle (that the raids could be politically motivated) . Then people thought - because I am shooting with Anurag Kashyap right now, they thought of raiding him and then they thought because she is also there next to him let’s also lage haath raid her also, some people gave me that logic also. So there have been some crazy logic floating around. Even if I tried asking the officials, I don’t think they would also know because they are under a protocol. Even if I get to know about it, what can I do about it? Can I change it? No. Do I want to change myself for fear of something not seen or not expected like this? No.”
"Where Are the 5 Crore?"
Taapsee also reacted to a section of the media reporting that cash receipts worth Rs 5 crore were seized from her premises.
“The IT Department put out a statement that this and this and this was found, and they did not name who was found with what, because that’s their protocol, they do not really name. But, just because it’s a leading actress and my name was the only name out of the 22 that came out, they (media) just didn’t bother about knowing the remaining. So that half journalism that happened there by a section of the media and not knowing the entire list and just putting that and that together and said it’s her. So, I am sitting and thinking, where are those Rs 5 crore, I also want to know. I have not been offered Rs 5 crore for anything in my life right now. I would want to keep that receipt framed for myself and for others so that I can say, ‘listen, I need to be paid this much!’.”
You can watch the full interview with Taapsee Pannu here:
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