HC extends relief to Sonu Sood in 'illegal' construction case

The Bombay High Court on Mondayextended till January 13 a civil court order granting interimprotection to actor Sonu Sood from coercive action by the BMCagainst the alleged illegal structural changes made by him ina residential building in suburban Juhu without permission.

Sood last week approached the HC, challenging a noticeissued against him by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationin October last year and an order passed by a civil court inDecember dismissing his suit against the BMC's action.

The civil court, while dismissing the suit, hadgranted three weeks time to Sood to file an appeal and stayedits order, thus granting relief to the actor.

On Monday, BMC's counsel Anik Sakhare sought time torespond to the actor's petition.

Sood's advocate Amogh Singh then sought interimprotection and a direction to the civic body to not take anycoercive action.

Justice Prithviraj Chavan, while adjourning thepetition till January 13, said, ''The order passed by the lowercourt shall continue till then.'' Sood's advocate Singh told the HC that the actor hasnot carried out any illegal or unauthorised construction inthe six-storey Shakti Sagar building.

''The petitioner (Sood) has not made any changes in thebuilding that warrant permission from the BMC. Only thosechanges that are allowed under the Maharashtra Regional andTown Planning (MRTP) Act have been done,'' Singh said.

BMC's counsel Sakhare, however, argued that thepetitioner was illegally converting the residential buildinginto a hotel without procuring license.

''A hotel with 24 rooms is being run in the six-storeyresidential building. The BMC has taken demolition action onthe property twice...once in 2018 and then in February 2020.

But, still the illegal construction is on,'' Sakhare said.

A police complaint has now been filed by thecorporation, he added.

Justice Chavan then asked Sood's lawyer if the actorwas operating a hotel in the building without license.

''Are you conducting hotel business without license?You should come to the court with clean hands. If not, thenyou will have to face consequences,'' Justice Chavan said.

To this, Singh said Sood is not conducting a hotelbusiness, but is running ''a residential hotel in which flatsare rented out to people''.

Sood's petition has sought the court to quash and setaside the notice issued by the BMC and an interim relief of nocoercive action to be initiated against him.

Sood, who is known for his roles in films like''Dabangg'', ''Jodha Akbar'' and ''Simmba'', came into spotlightlast year for his philanthropy work in helping migrants reachtheir homes during the COVID-19 lockdown.