Civic body and actor-turned-activist were embroiled in court battle over illegalities in structure from where he ran a boarding and lodging business
The Shiv Sagar building in Juhu. Pic/Shadab Khan
Actor and social worker Sonu Sood has told BMC that he has shut down his lodging and boarding facility at Shiv Sagar building in Juhu. The BMC had asked the actor to stop the hotel business on grounds that it was a residential space. While Sood had made multiple attempts to get the business regularised, they were rejected owing to CRZ and other restrictions.
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In a letter to the BMC, the actor said, “I would like to inform you that we have discontinued the activity of lodging/boarding in the existing 1st to 6th floors of the under reference building (Shiv Sagar) and henceforth the building shall be used only for residential purpose. The necessary work for addition/ alteration/restoration of the building is also under progress. However, due to the pandemic situation, there is an issue of labor shortage, hence the work is going on slowly.”
Actor Sonu Sood
Declaring that Sood’s hotel business, spread over six floors of the Juhu apartment building, was illegal, the BMC had sent him a demolition notice in October last year. It had also been alleged that alterations to the structure had been carried out without permission. There was no action after Sood challenged it in the Bombay High Court, though he didn’t get any relief.
While Sood moved the Supreme Court, he withdrew his plea and reapplied to the BMC to get the residential building converted into a commercial space. After all his attempts failed, he agreed to stop the business and restore the business as per the cleared plans.
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Activist Ganesh Kusumulu, who had complained about the illegalities, said, “This is clear enough that illegal activity was carried out in this premises and now that he has accepted that it would be cleared then we hope that the floors will be restored according to the approved plans.”
The actor told mid-day, “We have stopped the activity a long time back, and whatever little restoration is left will also be done soon.”
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