High-voltage drama was witnessed in Mumbai on Wednesday when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulldozers razed to the ground the ‘illegal office’ of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut while she was airborne from Chandigarh to Mumbai. Now, it is being reported that fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who is a neighbour of the actress has also come under the BMC scanner.
The BMC issued a notice to him the same day as it pasted a ‘stop-work notice’ on Kangana’s adjoining property. The cited four irregularities/ unauthorized changes and has been asked to respond within seven days with clarification or permission if taken. The notice alleges that the fashion designer hadn’t got the requisite permission when turning his residence into a commercial space.
Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, a spokesperson for Malhotra claimed that there was no irregularity and that the office “has been in the same condition" for the past 15 years. “If there are any concerns raised by the BMC, we will cooperate with them and address those," he said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Kangana’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui swiftly approached the Bombay High Court where a division bench comprising Justice S. J. Kathawalla and Justice R. I. Chagla stayed the demolition and kept the matter for further hearing on Thursday.
In his forceful plea, Siddiqui challenged the BMC action terming it as “illegal, arbitrary, malafide, without application of mind, unreasonable, improper and violating principles of natural justice," and that there were no illegalities in the office that was virtually torn apart by the civic demolition squad.
While staying the action, the high court directed the BMC to file its reply to Ranaut’s plea challenging the demolition order of Sep. 9, by 3 pm on Thursday.
Till the stay came, a significant portion of Kangana’s office premises from the inside and outside appeared to have been razed with massive bulldozers, JCBs, and other heavy equipment.
(with inputs from IANS)
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