The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed an application filed by actor Sonu Sood against a trial court’s refusal to stay the notice served to him by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for alleged illegal construction, Bar and Bench reported.
The BMC had issued the notice to Sood in October for allegedly converting his residential building in Mumbai’s Juhu area into a hotel without permission. In December, the civic body filed a police complaint against the actor. Following this, Sood first moved a civil court against the order. After the lower court refused to grant him relief, he moved the High Court on December 19. On January 11, the Bombay High Court extended the actor’s temporary protection against coercive action by the civic body.
Sood’s lawyer Amogh Singh on Thursday asked the High Court for 10 weeks to comply with the BMC’s order, according to The Indian Express. He also sought a stay on the demolition of the property.
But the court refused to consider the request. “The ball is now with the office of BMC,” Justice Prithviraj K Chavan said. “You [Sood] are too late. You’ve ample opportunity and law helps those who are diligent.”
Also read: Bombay HC extends interim relief to actor Sonu Sood in illegal construction case
At the hearing on Thursday, Sood’s lawyer denied that he had carried out any illegal construction at the building. “The petitioner has not made any changes in the building that warrant permission from the BMC,” the lawyer had said. The BMC’s lawyer Anik Sakhare, on the other hand, insisted that Sood had been making unauthorised changes to the building.
The BMC had filed a police complaint against Sood earlier this month. The civic body said that its officials found unauthorised changes being made to the building, even after it sent a notice to the actor in October. The civic body gave the actor a month’s time to restore the changes in the property.
Amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Sood had earned praise for helping hundreds of migrant workers stranded in Mumbai reach their hometowns.
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