Sudhir Kumar, the man who won (and lost) the record for India’s costliest VIP number plate, is under the Haryana government scanner. The government will now investigate his assets. This comes after Kumar won the highest bid for HR88B8888 number plate – Rs 1.17 crore but failed to deposit the stipulated money well within the five-day deadline. The transport department has forfeited his security deposit of Rs 11,000.
The investigation has been ordered by Haryana Transport Minister Anil Vij, who added that he would write to the Income Tax Department for the same.
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“We offer VIP number plates via auction. Several people bid for the number ‘8888’,” he told reporters, before adding, “After winning the auction by placing the highest bid, the bidder (Sudhir Kumar) did not pay the amount. Instead, he let his security deposit of Rs 11,000 be forfeited.”
“Bidding in auctions is not a hobby, it’s a responsibility,” Vij further said.
He noted that the probe is to ensure bidders do not inflate the cost of a number plate without having the financial capacity to pay the amount they bid. The probe will ascertain if his net worth is Rs 1.17 crore or not.
Who is Sudhir Kumar?
Sudhir Kumar is the Director of transportation service Romulus Solutions Private Limited. He came into the limelight after becoming the highest bidder for the VIP number plate HR88B8888, with a record-breaking offer of Rs 1.17 crore. He, however, failed to deposit the amount owing to technical glitches before the deadline.
He told the news agency PTI that he has a transport business. “We also have a software company, and we are into developing a transport-related mobile app for commercial transportation, and this business is in its early phase,” he added.
ALSO READHR88B8888: Who owns India’s Rs 1.17 cr VIP registration plate and what does it mean?
Kumar said he had not planned on a specific bid amount beforehand, but the price kept rising as the auction grew more competitive. Interestingly, he had not yet finalised the vehicle for which the coveted number plate was intended.
He also revealed that his family was unhappy about him spending such a large sum solely for a registration number.
All about HR88B8888 number plate
The number plate HR88B8888, which was touted as the country’s most expensive when the bid closed at Rs 1.17 crore, is up for auction again after Kumar failed to deposit the amount by 12 pm on December 1. The plate is expensive because it is visually striking. Why? Because it features a long string of eights after “HR” — where “HR” stands for the state of Haryana. “88” identifies the Regional Transport Office (RTO) or district where the vehicle is registered; in this case, it reportedly refers to the Kundli region of Sonipat. The letter “B” denotes the series code within that RTO. |
