HC asks Raut to reply to Kangana's plea on bungalow demolition

    Mumbai, Sep 24 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Thursday
directed Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut to file his
reply to actor Kangana Ranaut's petition against the
demolition of a part of her bungalow in Mumbai by the BMC.
    A bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla also
directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) H-ward
officer Bhagyawant Late to file his reply to the plea.
    Late had signed the demolition notice served to Ranaut
on September 7.
    On Tuesday, Ranaut's lawyer senior counsel Birendra
Saraf submitted in the court a DVD containing a speech in
which Raut allegedly made a comment threatening the actress.
    Following this, the HC bench had permitted Ranaut to
make both Raut and Late parties to the case.
    On Thursday, the bench said it will begin final
hearing in the case on Friday.
    Raut's counsel Pradeep Thorat asked for more time to
file the reply, saying the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member is
currently in New Delhi.
    BMC's senior counsel Anil Sakhre also sought more time
for Late to file his reply.
    Justice Kathawalla said the bench will begin hearing
the petitioner (Ranaut) on Friday and Raut could file his
reply anytime before his turn to put forth his arguments in
the court.
    The bench, however, directed the BMC to file the reply
on Late's behalf by Monday, saying it could not delay the
hearing.
    "We cannot leave the demolished house the way it is.
The building is demolished partly, and in the heavy monsoon,
we cannot leave it in this state. We will start hearing the
petitioner tomorrow," the bench said.
    Ranaut, in her plea filed in the HC on September 9,
sought that the demolition carried out by the BMC at her Pali
Hill bungalow be declared illegal.
    She subsequently amended her plea to demand Rs two
crore as damages from the civic body and its officials.
    In her plea, she alleged that the BMC had demolished
the bungalow out of personal vendetta, since she had made some
comments adverse to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government.
    The BMC in its affidavit filed in the high court
denied the allegation.
    In the affidavit filed through advocate Joel Carlos,
the BMC said Ranaut had carried out illegal structural changes
and repairs at the bungalow, and the civic officers were
merely following the law in demolishing unauthorised portions
of the structure.
    The civic body had urged the high court to dismiss
Ranaut's plea and to impose a cost on her. PTI AYA
GK GK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)