On Thursday, the Bombay High Court ordered Shiv Sena’s chief spokesman, Sanjay Raut, to present his response to actor Kangana Ranaut’s petition against BMC’s demolition of part of his bungalow in Mumbai.
A bench of SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla judges also ordered Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) District H Officer Bhagyawant Late to present his response to the guilty plea.
Late had signed the demolition notice sent to Ranaut on September 7.
On Tuesday, Ranaut’s lead attorney, Birendra Saraf, presented a DVD in court that contained a speech in which Raut allegedly made a threatening comment against the actress.
After this, the HC bank had allowed Ranaut to have Raut and Late be parties to the case.
On Thursday, the bank said it will begin the final hearing in the case on Friday.
Raut’s lawyer, Pradeep Thorat, asked for more time to submit the response, saying that Shiv Sena member Rajya Sabha is currently in New Delhi.
BMC’s lead attorney, Anil Sakhre, also asked for more time for Late to submit her response.
Judge Kathawalla said the court will begin hearing from the petitioner (Ranaut) on Friday and Raut could present his response at any time before his turn to present his arguments in court.
However, the bank ordered the BMC to file the response on Late’s behalf on Monday, saying it could not delay the hearing.
‘I can’t leave the demolished house as it is’
“We cannot leave the demolished house as it is. The building is partly demolished and, with the heavy monsoon, we cannot leave it in this state. We will start listening to the petitioner tomorrow, ”the bank said.
Ranaut, in his plea filed at the HC on September 9, requested that the demolition carried out by BMC of his Pali Hill bungalow be declared illegal.
Subsequently, he amended his petition to demand two million rupees in damages to the civic body and its officials.
In his guilty plea, he alleged that BMC had demolished the bungalow out of personal revenge, as it had made some adverse comments to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government.
The BMC in its affidavit filed in superior court denied the accusation.
In the affidavit filed through attorney Joel Carlos, the BMC said that Ranaut had made structural changes and illegal repairs to the bungalow, and that civic officials were simply following the law by demolishing unauthorized parts of the structure.
The civic body had urged the higher court to dismiss Ranaut’s statement and impose a cost on him.
.
