Rani drives neighbour ‘up the wall’

Debasish Panigrahi
Mumbai, December 24, 2006



Alleged unauthorised raising of common compound wall prompts police complaint
The owner of a bungalow next to the one recently purchased by Hindi film actress Rani Mukherjee at the Juhu-Tara Road has lodged a police complaint alleging the unauthorised raising of the compound wall of the star’s new home.

Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) A Patel of the Santacruz police station said on Sunday that Tejal Mehta, who owns a bungalow at the Juhu-Tara Road near the JW Marriot Hotel, lodged the complaint on Friday. He however, refused to provide her address.

Mehta has said that her bungalow shared the boundary wall with the adjacent one. The bungalow was recently purchased by Mukherjee, who hired a civil contractor to carry out repair and renovation work on the old bungalow. The contractor tried to raise the height of the compound wall, which was unauthorised. Besides, before raising the height, Mehta’s permission was not sought although she had an equal claim over the wall.

Mehta also alleged that when she tried to bring the mistake to the notice of the workers hired by the contractor, they hurled abuses at her.

PSI Patel said the police had registered a non-cognisable offence as it was essentially a civil dispute. He said the police will refer the matter to the Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation (BMC) for further investigation. He said Rani Mukherjee or her father Ram Mukherjee were respondents in the complaint.

Despite several attempts to reach Rani Mukherjee, she remained unavailable for comment. When contacted, her brother Raja refused to comment and disconnected his mobile phone.