Sood has no license to run hotel, had faced demolition earlier too: BMC

The Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) on Wednesday urged the Bombay High Court todismiss actor Sonu Sood's petition seeking to restrain thecivic body from carrying out demolition at his property here.

Sood suppressed the facts that demolition had beencarried out at the building for illegal construction earliertoo and he had no license to run a hotel there, the BMC said.

The actor moved the HC after the Dindoshi City CivilCourt refused to restrain the civic body from taking actionagainst alleged unauthorized alterations at the building whichstands in Juhu area.

Sood converted six floors of the residential buildinginto a hotel without permission, the BMC has alleged.

Arguing before Justice P K Chavan, BMC lawyer andsenior advocate Anil Sakhare said the demolition notice wasissued in October 2020 after it came to light that he had madeseveral alterations in breach of the sanctioned plans.

The actor constructed 24 hotel rooms on six floors,numbered them, and guests were found to be staying in theserooms, Sakhare said.

Advocate Amogh Singh, Sood's lawyer, contended that hecarried out only beautification work for which the BMC'spermission was not needed.

Sood had applied for a change of user of the propertyin October but the application was pending, he said.

But the BMC lawyer pointed out that he had notsubmitted any proof of such an application.

Parts of the property had been demolished by the BMCin November 2018 and again in February 2020 for unauthorizedconstruction, Sakhare said.

''He keeps restoring demolished portions every timewithout permission. He has no technical permission or alicense to use the property as a hotel.

''Yet, he suppresses these facts in his appeal....theappellant has not come with clean hands,'' Sakhare said,demanding that the plea be dismissed.

The actor's lawyer also told the court that he hadmortgaged the property with a private bank and was using thefunds for ''social causes''.

Last year, Sood had earned praise for helping migrantlabourers who were returning to their native states afterlockdown was enforced for coronavirus.

Justice Chavan, however, said this point was notrelevant.

The court said it was reserving its ruling which willbe pronounced soon.