Forest officials survey Kapil's office premises

Mumbai: With an FIR registered against Kapil Sharma for alleged unauthorised construction at his flat in suburban Goregaon, the forest department has swung into action to check for violations by house owners and developers in vicinity of the comedian's office in Versova. Forest officials visited Sharma's office yesterday and surveyed its premises and surrounding areas. "Following instructions from our chief conservator of the forest, our team visited the spot from where we received complaints. We found that there have been violations not only by Sharma, but 50-60 other flat owners also," Assistant Forest Conservator Makarand Ghodke told PTI. "All these occupants here have harmed the mangroves in their constructions and have made alterations. We have taken the GPS reading and will come out with final report in a day or two which will be submitted to the collector to take a final call," Ghodke said. The Oshiwara Police here had yesterday registered an FIR against Sharma for alleged unauthorised construction at his flat in suburban Goregaon. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sub-engineer Abhay Jagtap had lodged a complaint at Oshiwara police station in this regard. In the complaint, Jagtap had alleged that Sharma, who owns a flat in DLH Enclave on New Link Road in Goregaon, had violated norms and carried out illegal construction in the flat, a senior police official said. Based on the complaint, Sharma was booked under section 53(7) of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) 1966, the police official said. The artist had kicked up a controversy last week by alleging that he had been asked to pay a bribe of Rs five lakh by an official of BMC which, in turn, claimed that the actor had flouted norms in his Versova office building and his apartment in suburban Goregaon. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS had also filed a complaint against Sharma for keeping mum on his allegation that civic officials had demanded money from him, and violation of building norms by him. MNS general secretary Shalini Thackeray said they are going to follow up the issue for proper action. She also said it was unfortunate that celebrities get special treatment. Social activist Anil Galgali also said that instead of setting up an example, Sharma preferred to use his "celebrity status" rather than replying to the civic notices. "The fact is that Sharma had already been served notices for his premises. He should have replied to the notices served to him, but he preferred to reach out directly to PM by using his celebrity status," he added.