Mumbai, Sep 13: In more trouble for standup comedian Kapil Sharma, who has kicked up a row through his bribe tweet, Oshiwara Police here today registered an FIR against him 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.
Besides Sharma's flat, the municipal body has found violations in 15 other flats in the building and has already served notices to their owners.
Sharma 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.
Earlier in the day, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS filed a complaint against the artist for keeping mum on his allegation that civic officials had demanded money from him, and violation of building norms by him.
MNS group leader in BMC, Sandeep Deshpande, filed the complaint against Sharma at Versova police station. He demanded that the complaint be turned into an FIR and an investigation be ordered into the matter.
The complaint, filed by Deshpande's lawyer, mentions that since BMC officials are public servants under section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, and if they have demanded bribe, it amounts to an offence under section 39 of CrPC.
Also, it is a duty of a person to lodge a complaint against that public servant with the concerned authority, and if he fails to perform his duties as per section 176, it amounts to an offence, the complaint further said.
"In this case, Sharma did not act as a responsible citizen and failed to live up to his duty. Therefore, I have demanded the police officials to go into the merits of my complaint, convert it into an FIR and call him for further investigation," Deshpande said.
Besides, MNS general secretary Shalini Thackeray today visited the tehsildar office in suburban Andheri along with her supporters and demanded officials concerned to register an FIR against Sharma for allegedly destroying mangroves.
The MNS had also last week reacted sharply to Sharma, seizing on a statement he reportedly made alluding to role of its workers. The opposition Congress had used the issue to target BJP and Shiv Sena, who together control BMC.
However, the Shiv Sena had dared Kapil to name the bribe seeker. BJP MLA Ram Kadam had earlier lodged a complaint with the cyber cell of Mumbai Police and demanded to forward it to the Anti-Corruption Bureau to probe Sharma's allegations.
However, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam today came out in support of Sharma and said the artiste was being "victimised" to divert attention from the issue of graft. He also urged Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to intervene in the matter.
"In an attempt to divert attention from the main issue of bribery, the BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS have accused Mr Sharma of illegal works in his office and threatened him with demolition and other drastic actions. I personally believe the municipal authority has all the right to take action against any illegal structure in Mumbai," Nirupam said.
In the letter, Nirupam also urged the Governor to direct Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to initiate either an inquiry by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) or a judicial probe into the charges made by the artiste.
On Friday, Kapil had tweeted his anguish and said, "I am paying Rs 15 cr income tax from last 5 year n still i have to pay Rs 5 lakhs bribe to BMC office for making my office @narendramodi (sic)."
"Yeh hain aapke achhe din? @narendramodi (are these your good days)," he had sought to know in another tweet, referring to Modi's 2014 poll slogan of "good days are ahead".
Sharma has 63 lakh followers on his Twitter handle and since he tagged the Prime Minister, the tweet generated sharp reactions from all major political parties, with an eye on the forthcoming civic elections.
It also sparked an instant response from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who requested Sharma to provide the authorities with necessary information to punish the culprit.
Later, in an apparent attempt to cap the controversy from escalating, Sharma said he did not seek to blame any political party.
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