Where will Kapil be prosecuted: Bombay HC

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to decide on whether it wanted to prosecute comedian Kapil Sharma’s in the high court or the civil court for violation of construction norms. The high court posed the question as the corporation was pursuing similar issues in both the high court and the civil court simultaneously.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and M.S. Karnik was hearing a petition filed by Mr Sharma and actor Irrfan Khan against demolition notices issued to them by the BMC.

The petition claimed that a civil court had already stayed a notice served by the BMC to the developer DLH private limited and they were also party to the suit. While clarifying its stand, the BMC had informed the court that the corporation was in rights to serve notices to both the actors and 13 other occupants staying in the Goregoan tower as they had carried out illegal alterations in their flats beyond the approved plans.

Based on this contention, the BMC counsel had urged the court to dismiss the petitions filed by the actors.

However, counsel for the actors informed the court that while the BMC had issued individual notices to the actors and other occupants, it had also issued a demolition notice to the developer under Section 351 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, on the grounds that the developer had flouted construction norms while constructing the 18-storey tower on New Link Road at Goregaon where the actors owned flats.  

After hearing both sides the bench observed that the issues raised in the civic body’s notice and the civil suit were related and were pertaining to occupants of the same 18 floor tower hence the court must tag them together and the BMC must decide on pursuing the proceedings in either cases.