By News18,Shreyanka Mazumdar

Copyright news18

Malayalam actress Navya Nair found herself in an unusual bind at Melbourne Airport after being fined AUD 1,980 (Rs 1.14 lakh) for carrying a jasmine gajra without declaring it. The actor says the flowers were in her hair, not hidden in luggage, and insists it was an innocent oversight. She has now reached out to the Australian agricultural department seeking a waiver for the hefty fine.
Unintentional Customs Violation
In a chat with HTCity, Navya has explained, “I was kind of shocked. It’s a significant penalty. The thing is that I was not carrying flowers in my bag. The flowers were on my hair, so it was nothing hidden but I didn’t declare it because I missed it out. They mentioned parts of plants and flowers are included that. The sniffer dogs sniffed it because I had kept the flowers in my bag in the beginning of my travel.”
Appeal Underway
She added, “I have 28 days time for payment. They also told me that I can send a mail telling all these details to the agriculture department. So, I have just send them a mail that night itself. I am just waiting for a reply. I have asked them to waive off the amount and if they don’t waive off then I had read it in many articles that they charge 300 dollars and they charged AUD 1980 and it is written 6 units, so I don’t know what it is. As a foreigner I had no idea.”
Onam Trip And Airport Delay
Navya, who starred in films like Janaki Jaane (2023), Oruthee (2022), and Nandanam (2002), had travelled to Melbourne to attend Onam celebrations organised by the Malayali Association of Victoria. She revealed the airport procedure caused significant delays. “It took me quite a lot of time to go through the process and exit the airport to enter Melbourne.”
Actor Hopes For Understanding
The actress said she had no intention of breaking the law. She said, “It’s the law of a country and I have to abide it. I have no other option. I requested them and tried to tell them that it was not intentional. On a humanitarian aspect they can simply take the flowers and keep it there. They could have let me go because I didn’t have any intention but I think it depends on the officers so I cannot comment on that.”