THE Bombay High Court on Monday extended till January 13 a civil court order granting interim protection to actor Sonu Sood from coercive action by the BMC against the alleged illegal structural changes made by him in a residential building in suburban Juhu without permission. Sood last week approached the HC, challenging a notice issued against him by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in October last year and an order passed by a civil court in December dismissing his suit against the BMC’s action.

 

The civil court, while dismissing the suit, had granted three weeks time to Sood to file an appeal and stayed its order, thus granting relief to the actor. On Monday, BMC’s counsel Anik Sakhare sought time to respond to the actor’s petition. Sood’s advocate Amogh Singh then sought interim protection and a direction to the civic body to not take any coercive action. Justice Prithviraj Chavan, while adjourning the petition till January 13, said, “The order passed by the lower court shall continue till then.”

 

Sood’s advocate Singh told the HC that the actor has not carried out any illegal or unauthorised construction in the six-storey Shakti Sagar building. “The petitioner (Sood) has not made any changes in the building that warrant permission from the BMC. Only those changes that are allowed under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act have been done,” Singh said.