SRK's Red Chillies Mumbai office loses 'illegal' canteen
What's the story
The BMC has razed a 'canteen' attached to the Goregaon (West) office of Shah Rukh Khan's production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, for illegal alteration. According to the civic body, they had received a complaint about the structure in July, but didn't act till a court ordered in their favor. Red Chillies has denied wrongdoings and alleged the BMC demolished energy-saving solar panels instead.
Complaints
What was wrong with the canteen?
The 'canteen' is located on a terrace on the fourth floor of the 16-storey DLH Maxx building. According to officials, Red Chillies had covered the 2,000-sqft terrace and "changed it into usable area" in violation of fire safety norms. In doing so, it also allegedly blocked public access to it. After BMC served Khan a notice, he approached the court but didn't get relief.
Defense
What does Red Chillies have to say?
Red Chillies, owned by Khan and his wife Gauri, uses the fourth floor for post-production work. It claimed, "Red chillies VFX is a tenant and not the owner of the property," adding it is not an "operational canteen" anyway. Moreover, the BMC had demolished solar panels instead "which provided clean energy to the entire VFX division", Red Chillies alleged.
Celebs
Other celebs in the line of BMC's fire
Other actors too have faced BMC action in the past. Recently, Rani Mukerji and Sonu Sood received BMC notices. While Mukerji's petition for regularization of alteration to her bungalow is pending, Sood has got a stay order against demolition of his restaurant. There's criticism that the BMC acts against celebs only for publicity, but doesn't act against other establishments despite gross violations and repeated complaints.