In a huge setback for Union Minister Narayan Rane, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai civic body, the BMC, to demolish the illegal structure of his house in the city and imposed Rs. 10 lakh fine on the politician.
A Bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata expressed its displeasure at the civic body being ‘bent upon’ considering Rane’s application of regularisation of his illegal structure even when there were provisions to do so.
Rane has always maintained that his posh Juhu bungalow was not constructed illegally after the Mumbai civic body served him a notice for inspection earlier this year. However, the attitude of the civic body changed after the split in the Shiv Sena, which runs the BMC. The rebel group of the Shiv Sena now governs Maharashtra in alliance with the BJP, Rane’s party.
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“They have admittedly constructed three times the permissible limit, also without CRZ permission,” the Livelaw website quoted the order of the high court.
The court gave the BMC two weeks time to demolish the illegal structure of Rane’s posh bungalow in Mumbai.