The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed actor Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan to file representations to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against the notice issued for acquisition of a part of their bungalow ‘Pratiksha’ in suburban Juhu. The Bachchan couple had earlier this week moved the High Court challenging the notice issued by the civic body. A division bench of Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice SM Modak directed him to file a representation to the BMC within two weeks. The bench said, “When the representation is filed, the BMC will hear it after six weeks and take a decision. After the decision is taken, no coercive action will be taken against the petitioners for three weeks.” The court also said that the lawyers of the Bachchan couple can also be heard personally, if required.
The petition had sought quashing of the BMC’s notice and an injunction to restrain the civic body from taking any action towards land acquisition. Two notices were issued to the Bachchan couple on April 20, 2017, stating that certain portions of the plots near their residential property are within the regular line of the road and that the BMC intends to acquire such land along with the relevant walls and structures. is to do. The Bachchan couple had appointed their representatives to reach the BMC office to gather information about the notice and discuss the matter with the civic body officials. The representatives told the BMC officials that it would be easier for the civic body to widen the road on the opposite side of the plots. The petition of the Bachchan couple states that no action was taken by the BMC for execution of the notice for a period of four years and nine months till January 28, 2022.
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According to the petition, during this period the petitioners have accepted that the notice issued has been withdrawn and that is why no formal objection was lodged. It said that on January 28, 2022, some BMC officials orally informed the petitioners that they have proposed to implement the proposed notice and soon a part of the plots prescribed in the notice would be acquired. According to the petition, the proposed notice does not take into account the building structures on the plots which cannot be demolished under the MMC Act. It claimed that the BMC has not issued any notices to the owners of other plots in the same direction and no action has been taken to widen that stretch of the road, which shows the disparity in the action taken by the civic body. . (Language)