'Cannot leave Kangana Ranaut’s property in partly demolished state': High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it “cannot leave Kangana Ranaut’s Bandra office to remain in a partly demolished state during monsoons” and it will begin hearing the actor’s petition against BMC from tomorrow.

The court granted time to Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut and the BMC’s designated officer to file responses before they present their arguments.

On September 9, the high court had stayed the demolition of alleged unauthorised structures at Ranaut’s Pali Hill office, hours after the BMC had started the exercise.

The court’s order restraining BMC from undertaking further demolition work at the property will continue until further orders.

On Tuesday, the court allowed Kangana Ranaut to make Sena MP Raut and BMC’s designated officer of H West ward as parties to the case.

On Thursday, a division bench of Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice R I Chagla was told by advocate Pradeep Thorat that he was appearing for Raut and sought time to file a response as he had received the petition this morning. Thorat submitted that Raut was was unable to give instructions as he is Delhi for Parliament session.

Senior Counsel Anil Sakhare for BMC also sought time for Bhagyavant Late, the designated officer from H-West ward, to file response to the plea.

After hearing the submissions, the court observed that as part of the bungalow was demolished and with the advent of rains in the city, the plea cannot be delayed further.

Responding to the request made by BMC lawyer for further hearing on Monday, September 28, Justice Kathawalla said, “You need more time. Otherwise you are very fast.”

The court then allowed Thorat to file a response on behalf of Raut during the course of hearings. “By the time your time comes, you can file your response,” the court said. The bench also directed Sakhare to file BMC officer’s response before the turn of arguments.

The bench noted in the order, “We have explained to both the advocates, who are seeking time, that since 40% of the petitioner’s Bungalow is already demolished on 9th September, 2020 and the Bungalow continues to stand in partially demolished condition since then, it is likely that some mishap may be caused due to the heavy rainfall in Mumbai. It is therefore necessary to hear the matter at the earliest.”

The court also told Ranaut’s advocate Rizwan Siddiquee and senior counsel Birendra Saraf that they had wrongly numbered the respondents in the petition. After Saraf apologised for the same, he submitted that correction would be made and the amended plea will be served to the respondents. The respondents include BMC, the executive engineer who issued demolition notice, the state government and newly added respondents Raut and BMC designated officer Bhagyavant Late.

The court said that it will start hearing the plea from September 25 at 3 pm.

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