House problems

Mumbai, Sept. 13: In, engineer Shah Rukh Khan’s rivals conspire to bring down a bridge that had been built under his supervision.

Fifteen years on, the actor might get the feeling that the script is playing out in real life. Only this time, it is Mannat, his grand Bandra bungalow, that is under the glare.

Bombay High Court today asked the Bollywood star and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to send within two weeks their replies on alleged building rule violations on a part of the land housing the mansion.

At the heart of the row are discrepancies in affidavits filed by Shah Rukh and the civic body over a road right behind Mannat. A Mumbai NGO, Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Sanghatana, has brought the contradictions to notice in a public interest plea that alleges irregularities in two other construction projects. These belong to Goodwill Builders and Sonal Earthmovers.

The NGO had filed the suit in 2005, accusing the civic body of deleting a 9.15-metre road line next to Mannat from the development plan without following the legal process. It argued that this was done to allegedly help the actor build a multi-storeyed building behind the bungalow.

Today’s directive, passed by a bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice D. Chandrachud, came after the NGO pointed out apparent contradictions in two affidavits filed by Gauri, the actor’s wife.

In the first, filed on December 6, 2005, she said the road line had been deleted. But in the second, filed in February this year, she said it was not deleted. The civic body also filed affidavits making similar claims, Shakuntala Joshi, the NGO’s lawyer, said after the hearing.

The Sanghatana has also submitted photographs of the construction apparently showing that the structure had reduced the width of the road from 9.15 metres to 6 metres.

The road, leading up to Mount Mary Church, is crammed with worshippers during the Mount Mary Fair, which begins on September 8 every year. “If the road line is deleted from the municipal body’s documents, it means there cannot be any further development. It is a motorable road and meant for public use. If the road line has to be deleted, the corporation has to follow a due process, which includes publishing advertisements and inviting objections from the public,” Joshi said.

Shah Rukh’s counsel, Darius Khambatta, said the court directive had been received but refused comment. “The case is sub judice, and I would not like to comment,” he said.

Mannat has been in the news in the past, too. In September 2005, a Bandra resident had filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court urging the court to stop the actor from developing and constructing the multi-storeyed building on the plot behind Mannat on the ground that it violated heritage norms.

Bandra resident Cyril Mecwan had said in his petition that the bungalow fell in the heritage category and heritage norms barred any construction or development in its vicinity. He even argued that heritage properties could not be renamed. The petition contended that Shah Rukh bought the heritage bungalow named Land’s End in 2000 and renamed it Mannat.