BENGALURU: A flashy garage featuring Rolls-Royce cars, once owned by Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, has now cost a Bengaluru-based realtor and politician nearly Rs 40 lakh in unpaid taxes.On Wednesday morning, a team of RTO officials swooped down on the Vasanthnagar residence of Yusuf Sharif, also known as KGF Babu, armed with evidence that he was operating Maharashtra-registered luxury cars in Bengaluru without paying the required state taxes.KGF Babu purchased a RollsRoyce Phantom from Amitabh Bachchan and a Rolls Royce Ghost from Aamir Khan. Officials said in 2021, field staff from the RTO impounded the Rolls-Royce bearing registration number MH 02 BB 0002. However, the vehicle was released shortly afterward, allegedly due to the intervention of higher-ups in the department. The department collected a penalty of Rs 5,500 before releasing the vehicle.This decision irked junior officials, who were not convinced by the move and believed it was a strong case for recovering the pending tax. After a gap of four years, on Wednesday, the RTO once again visited KGF Babu-this time with substantial proof that the cars were still being used in the state without paying the applicable taxes.An official said: “Out-of-state registered vehicles must pay road tax if they are used in Karnataka for over a year. A notice was issued in 2021 for the luxury car purchased from Amitabh Bachchan. The other car, bought from Aamir Khan, has been in use since 2023, and we have gathered sufficient evidence of its operation within the state. After briefing KGF Babu about the rules and clarifying his queries, we asked him to pay the tax. He paid by cheque on the same day. For MH 02-BB-0002, Rs 19.8 lakh was collected, and for MH 11-AX-0001, Rs 18.5 lakh was paid.”The official said that in 2021, when the initial tax demand was raised, KGF Babu claimed that the vehicle he purchased from Amitabh Bachchan was in Karnataka only for a month and would soon be returned to Mumbai permanently. “After the vehicle was impounded and later released, he briefly sent it back to Mumbai but soon brought it back to Bengaluru. We now have sufficient records of the vehicles’ usage on Bengaluru roads, including footage captured by traffic surveillance cameras.”‘Mistake out of ignorance’Later, KGF Babu told the media: “I have a passion for buying cars from celebrities. I bought these cars from Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. I already paid lifetime road tax for these vehicles in Maharashtra-Rs 50 lakh for one and Rs 35 lakh for the other. I wasn’t aware that I had to pay tax again in Karnataka. I run a business in Mumbai, and these vehicles were registered to my office address there. They operate in Mumbai for 15 days and in Karnataka for the other 15 days.“He added: “On Wednesday, officials from the transport department visited my house without any prior notice. They informed me of the applicable tax, and I cleared the dues immediately. I made a mistake out of ignorance. I urge others who own vehicles registered outside Karnataka to voluntarily approach their local RTOs and clear any pending tax dues.”
