Mumbai, Feb. 19 -- The Bombay High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Indian Navy for allegedly "sleeping" while a 23-storey high-rise came up near INS Shikra in south Mumbai, even as it permitted construction to continue at the developer's risk after briefly halting work earlier in a security intervention. The rebuke came from a bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri while hearing a petition filed by the Commanding Officer of INS Shikra, seeking to halt the project over alleged security risks to the sensitive defence installation. "Were you sleeping all this time?" the court asked, questioning why the construction, which the Navy said began in 2021, was allowed to proceed. Earlier this week, the high court had temporarily stayed construction activity citing urgent security concerns ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city. On Wednesday, advocate RV Govilkar, appearing for the Navy, submitted that construction up to 53.07 metres was permitted in the area. The bench said that while it was conscious of the security concerns raised, it could consider passing an interim order permitting construction up to the permissible height, and that any further construction will be at the builder's own risk. The high court added that if, after the final hearing, the building is found to pose a security threat, it would have to be demolished.The matter has been posted for further hearing on Friday.HTC...