The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has spent Rs 82 lakh on fighting its case related to the demolition of actor Kangana Ranaut’s office before the Bombay High Court, according to information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Sharad Yadav, an activist who obtained the information, said he had also filed another RTI application seeking details about the number of complaints of illegal structures BMC has received. He added he was told BMC does not have enough manpower to provide the information.
Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal refused to comment on the matter.
The BMC in September carried out the demolition citing “‘illegal structural violations” at the office. The action was taken a day after BMC issued a notice to Ranaut.
Ranaut moved the court saying the demolition be declared illegal. The court proceedings went on till the first week of October. The court has concluded the hearing and reserved its order in the matter.
The BMC has faced criticism for not showing similar swiftness in dealing with other illegal structures.
Ranaut on Wednesday slammed the BMC on Twitter over the money spent on the case.
Bhartiya Janata Party corporator Abhijit Samant said there are thousands of other illegal alterations in the city for which BMC never spends this amount of money. “We all know that the demolition of the actor’s bungalow was politically motivated.”
The demolition was carried out amid a war of words between Ranaut and the state’s ruling Shiv Sena.
