Actor Kangana Ranaut‘s plea, against the demolition of her apartment by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in September 2020, was dismissed by a civil court in Mumbai. Ranaut has made a “grave violation” of the sanctioned plan by merging three flats, the court observed.
According to a report by Live Law, a court in suburban Dindoshi had dismissed the application last week, but the detailed order was made available only on Thursday.
Ranaut had bought a bungalow in 2017 in Mumbai’s Pali Hill area and renovated it in 2018. In March 2018, the BMC issued a notice to the actor regarding “unauthorised constructions” at her flat, followed by another notice where they warned her of demolishing the said portion if she fails to restore the original structure.
In January 2019, Ranaut had challenged the demolition notice requesting the court to “restrain the civic body from carrying out the demolition”, to which the court had issued a status-quo order which prevented both parties from taking any action until the matter was resolved. On September 9, 2020, the BMC demolished parts of the actor’s bungalow alleging “unauthorised” construction, after which Ranaut moved the high court against it.
In an order issued on December 23, 2020, Judge LS Chavan had rejected Ranaut’s application and said that the “interference of this court is not required”.
In the latest order, Judge Chavan also noted that Ranaut owns three flats on the fifth floor of the 16-storey building, which she had allegedly merged into one. The court mentioned that in the process, she had covered the sunk area, duct area, common passage and converted the free Floor Space Index into a habitable area.
“These are grave violation of the sanctioned plan for which the permission oft he competent authority is required,” the court said.
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Denying that she had violated the sanctioned plan, the actor wrote on Twitter, “Fake propaganda by Mahavinashkari government, I haven’t joined any flats, whole building is built the same way, one apartment each floor, that’s how I purchased it, @mybmc is only harassing me in the entire building. Will fight in higher court.”
The court has given Ranaut six weeks to approach the Bombay High Court against the order.