Mumbai
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.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 High Court that the actor had not carried out any illegal or unauthorised construction in the six-storey Shakti Sagar building.”The petitioner 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 Act have been done,” Singh said.

BMC’s counsel Sakhare, however, argued that the petitioner was illegally converting the residential building into a hotel without procuring a licence.

Justice Chavan then asked Sood’s lawyer if the actor was operating a hotel in the building without a licence.”Are you conducting hotel business without a licence? You should come to the court with clean hands. If not, then you will have to face consequences,” Justice Chavan said.