Mumbai:
After over a decade of knocking on the doors of various authorities for justice, a 61-year-old man from Shivaji Park finally got his due when the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission ordered the additional chief secretary, home, to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the senior citizen for Shivaji Park police station’s failure to register his FIR.
Ashok Sawant, 61, is a tenant in a building on Veer Savarkar Road where an Asian cuisine restaurant, located on the ground floor of the building, put up large air-conditioner blowers, resulting in ear-splitting noise and vibrations in Sawant’s apartment. At the time, Sawant approached the restaurant owner, the BMC as well as the police in the hope that someone would address his grievance. Finally, he approached the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and a sub-divisional officer from the body inspected the site in 2009. The officer gave an adverse report against the restaurant as the noise level was found exceeding residential zone limits. Alongside, though Sawant had approached the Shivaji Park police station, no cognisance was taken of his complaint. In 2011, Sawant filed a petition before the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission.
Later in 2015, as his apartment had suffered extensive damage, Sawant began tenantable repairs. Under the Municipal Corporation Act and Rent Control Act, tenantable repairs do not require any permission from the BMC.
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