Kangana Ranaut agrees to withdraw case against BMC, to apply for regularization

Actress Kangana Ranaut has withdrawn her appeal against the Dindoshi civil court's decision to dismiss her plea against a 2018 notice from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) regarding alleged unauthorized construction in her Khar residence.

According to the legal website Livelaw.in, Ranaut had approached the high court appealing against the Dindoshi civil court's judgment. The actress had sought interim protection from the court as well as a stay on further action by the civic body. A single bench of justice Prithviraj K Chavan allowed the actress to withdraw the appeal, protecting her from any coercive action from the BMC till the application of regularization is decided on. The court granted her four days to withdraw her petition and file for regularization in the span of two weeks. The court granted interim protection against coercive action for a further two weeks if the directions received from BMC are not favourable.

At an earlier hearing, the counsels for the BMC, Aspi Chinoy and Joel Carlos, had insisted that the actress could apply for regularization, provided that she admits that the BMC's notice is justified and withdraws her suit. Ranaut's counsel had replied that their client would be ready with an answer to either argue against the notification or withdraw the plea by the next hearing. 

Incidentally, actor Sonu Sood had opted for the same legal remedy after the BMC issued a notice against alleged unauthorized modifications at his residential apartment. Sood approached the apex court to ask for interim protection, before agreeing to his counsel's decision to withdraw the plea and apply for regularization. 

Ranaut approached the city civil court in Dindoshi in January 2019 seeking to prevent the BMC from taking action. However, on 22 December 2020, the court dismissed her plea, while offering her interim protection to file an appeal before the high court. The actress did the same earlier this month.