MUMBAI: Four years after her sprawling property was caught in the crosshairs of the BMC, actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has sold her Pali Hill row house for Rs 32 crore. The ground plus three-storey building at Nargis Dutt Road in Bandra (West) has been purchased by Kamalini Holdings, according to IndexTap.
The sale agreement for the 3,075 sq ft property with one parking slot was registered last week. The new owner paid a stamp duty of Rs 1.9 crore. The actor had purchased the row house for Rs 20 crore in 2017.
During the Covid lockdown in September 2020, the BMC issued a 24-hour notice to the actor seeking a reply on alleged “illegal alteration and construction” within the premises after she renovated the bungalow.
The BMC had claimed the property had been converted into an office. The notice said if Kangana failed to reply to the notice in 24 hours, the BMC would demolish the “unauthorised portion” of the bungalow.
The BMC notice listed out unauthorised constructions as toilet, kitchen, and pantry on the ground floor. It also mentioned an unauthorised room built on the first floor using a wooden partition and illegal inclusion of a second-floor balcony into a habitable area. The bungalow was earlier used as a kindergarten. She had approached the residents’ association to inform them that after renovation, she would use the bungalow as an office-cum-home.
Soon after the notice, BMC bulldozers arrived and demolished large portions of the structure, forcing the actor to rush to the Bombay high court. The court set aside the BMC’s demolition order and held that the demolition action “was actuated by mala fides”. It held that the constructions done by her in her Bandra bungalow was “pre-existing” and not ongoing and also held that she is entitled to damages but appointed a valuer to help quantify it.
The purpose of using section 354A of the BMC Act (meant for ongoing illegal construction) was “more sinister” and “mainly to prevent from taking legal recourse for preventive action”, said the HC. The court allowed her to make her bungalow habitable again and to also make an application to the BMC to carry out restoration of the demolished work. The HC ordered the BMC to compensate her.
