For the first time since she locked horns with the Shiv Sena and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), actress Kangana Ranaut, on Monday, said she had not made any illegal or unauthorised alterations at her bungalow, 40 per cent of which, she claims, has been demolished by the civic officials. The actress, through a rejoinder (reply to an affidavit), told the Bombay High Court that the ‘action’ by the BMC was nothing but a counterblast of her comments on social media.
In her rejoinder filed in response to the affidavit of the BMC, the actress has also highlighted the alleged ‘bias’ against her on the part of the BMC, which gave at least seven days time to fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who was served with a similar demolition notice for alterations.
The rejoinder was filed before a bench headed by Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla, which is likely to take up this matter for hearing on Tuesday.
"I, specifically, deny that the record established (by the BMC) shows that I have unlawfully made substantial alterations and additions to the bungalow, contrary to the sanctioned building plan. I deny that alleged illegal work was being carried on," she said, adding that had the civic officials given her a ‘fair opportunity’ as required in law, she would have been able to respond to their allegations after taking appropriate advice from experts.
The actress has further claimed that the action was everything but vendetta. "The civic body wanted to seek personal vendetta. The officials, on the very same day, issued a demolition notice to an adjacent bungalow occupied by the famous fashion designer Manish Malhotra, giving him seven days' time to provide explanation and appropriately respond to the same," the rejoinder mentions.
"This conduct of the BMC and its officials clearly demonstrates bias and further displays that the demolition notice issued to me is vitiated by malice and was issued as a counterblast to the statements made by me," Kangana has claimed.
The actress has further pointed out several procedural lapses on the part of the BMC, such as failing to annex a photograph of the alleged illegalities and not uploading the same. She has even pointed out that the civic body failed to give out the exact number of workmen, who it found working in her bungalow and what kind of material they had and has further questioned as to why the civic officials did not click their photo before stopping the work.
