Mumbai: Bombay High Court held that actor Sonu Sood (48) had come to court with “unclean hands’’ to seek its protection from civic action against “illegal alterations” to a six-story building which he was using as a hotel in Juhu.

Sood’s plea for relief on grounds of ‘equity’ was found to be sans merit. ‘Equity’, in law, is concerned with fairness and justice granted by directing the other side to abide by orders when ordinary legal remedies, including awarding damages, may be inadequate.

Justice P K Chavan said, “There is no question of equity being granted to appellants (Sood and wife) as they have approached court with unclean hands, seeking relief of temporary injunction against respondents by repeatedly committing breach of provisions’’ of civic law and Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. “Equity cannot supplant law,’’ said the Judge in his order made available on Friday.

HC accepted BMC’s submission that the actor was a “habitual offender’’. It said it “can be seen’’ that Sood “neither discontinued carrying out additions and alterations’’ but “went on re-erecting the same in the absence of authorization...’’ HC said, “Since there is no application seeking permission, there is no question of retaining the offending structure.’’ The January 21 order held Sood’s appeal to be “devoid of merits and stands dismissed.’’ He had challenged a city civil court order which had last December declined him interim relief against an October 2020 notice issued by BMC to remove “unauthorized development’’ in the building.

The HC said BMC can act on the notice and Sood cannot resort to section 43, MRTP Act.