A First Information Report was filed against comedian Kapil Sharma on Wednesday under the Environment and Protection Act as well as the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act for allegedly destroying mangroves in Mumbai’s Versova suburb.
The comedian had stirred controversy in September when he accused a BMC official of demanding Rs 5 lakh bribe for the construction of an office building in Versova. Soon, the civic body alleged that Sharma flouted norms not only his Versova office building, but destroyed mangroves during the construction of his Goregaon flat. Apart from Sharma, the BMC had issued notices to several other flat owners in the Goregaon building, including actor Irrfan Khan, for similar reasons.
On Twitter, Sharma had tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him if these were his “achhe din [good days]”, referring to Modi’s election promise. He later clarified that he did not mean to blame any political party.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had issued a notice to Sharma on April 28 this year under Section 351 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act. The civic body had said that certain constructions in the 18-storey residential building, DLH Enclave, had to be razed because the Goregaon structure was unauthorised. Following this, Sharma challenged the notice in the high court and said it was “bad in law” and issued with “malafide intentions”. The Bombay High Court had temporarily stayed the demolition order on October 17.
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