The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had on June 29 directed Sonu Sood to restore his six-storey Shiv Sagar building at Juhu in Bombay from a hotel to residential premises within a fortnight. The actor had agreed to comply with the order. The BMC’s K-West ward issued the letter to Sood, asking him to revert the building status to residential and remove all the unauthorised constructions and alterations. The action came after municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal approved a proposal from Sonu’s architects to restore the change of user of the building back to residential. The actor had converted the building into a hotel allegedly without necessary BMC permission.
It may be recalled that the BMC had in January this year filed a complaint against Sonu for the conversion of the building and had asked the Juhu police to take cognisance of offence under the MRTP Act for illegal alterations, additions and change of user. Following a rap from the Bombay high court in February and after withdrawing his plea before the Supreme Court, Sonu Sood had agreed to restore the hotel to residential premises. His architects had even submitted a proposal to the BMC to that effect. The BMC chief had okayed the proposal in April but had asked the actor to remove all the illegal constructions and alterations.
Activist Ganesh Kusmulu had first filed a complaint with Lokayukta against Sonu. He has alleged that the BMC and the police had tried to delay the matter. He rued that the police had not filed an FIR against the actor. According to Kusmulu, he would move the Lokayukta against those who fail to take action if Sonu Sood and his architects did not demolish the structures within 15 days as per the BMC letter. However, according to Sood, the June 29 BMC letter was about some structures that did not belong to them in the building. “But if anything has to be done on our end, we will do it, as advised,” he is reported to have added.