MUMBAI, Nov. 22 -- The St Vincent De Paul Cooperative Housing Society (CHS) Ltd has accused the civic administration of granting "unauthorised" approval to actor Suniel Shetty for a proposed vertical extension to Bungalow No 7 in Garden Homes in Khar west. In a legal notice sent to the BMC, dated October 31, 2025, the society said the 12-bungalow plot is undivided land owned by the Church of St Vincent De Paul, and neither the church nor the society had given Shetty permission for any reconstruction. The dispute escalated after the church, in an October 25 letter, told the society that Shetty had twice sought permission to add floors to Bungalow No 7 but had been turned down. "No permission, written or oral, has been granted by us," the church said. The society in its legal notice to the BMC and Shetty claimed it discovered on the BMC website a July 14, 2025 letter from architect Arun Kumar Dube, a notarised affidavit from Shetty, and BMC approval dated August 19, 2025. It alleged that the architect had "misrepresented" Bungalow No 7's status on undivided land, and that Shetty "is not a member of the society" and cannot claim FSI on the 2,791.70 sq m plot. The affidavit, it said, was improperly stamped and the approval was "vitiated by fraud". Calling the BMC's decision another instance of "unilateral" action, the society referred to a 2018 Bombay High Court order, after which the civic body withdrew earlier changes of use for Bungalows 5 and 7. It demanded that the BMC immediately withdraw its approval and instruct Shetty not to proceed, warning that it would otherwise move the court. Advocate Sagorika Mazumdar, Shetty's legal counsel, dismissed the allegations, saying, "All the allegations are unfounded because we have not touched the property. We bought this legally through a bank auction through a high court order." Mazumdar said any pending litigation is between the former owner and the bank that had attached the property after prolonged default. "This is all public information and nothing is clandestine here," Mazumdar added. Responding to the society's claim that Shetty is not a member, Mazumdar said the society has been unfairly targeting him. "Mr Shetty has applied for membership and we have paid the money for the property all through directions of the court. The society refused to give membership on the grounds that there is ongoing litigation, which is between the bank and the previous owner. The society has nothing to do with it," she claimed. Mazumdar reiterated that Shetty acquired the bungalow under the SARFAESI Act after a July 2024 auction and completed the purchase in October 2024. "In spite of that, the society didn't include Shetty as a member, stating that a case is going on in the Debt Recovery Tribunal(DRT), which makes it clear that the society chairman and secretary are hand-in-glove with the previous owner and are harassing us since then. We have not touched the property for over a year now, even though we have paid for it. We do not do anything which isn't by the book." Addressing the allegations of seeking unauthorised permissions, she said, "This is their half-baked knowledge. We have paid for the property and it is registered in our name, and we are keeping it ready. We have in-principle approval subject to conditions." Shetty's architect and consultant Sandeep Dube added that they have secured in-principle BMC approval for a ground-plus-two-floor bungalow. "It is a bungalow project and will not be utilised for commercial purposes. The society AGM has issued a letter dated July 23, 2022, stating that all bungalows have equal distribution of FSI. We will get a fresh NOC from the society as soon as it accepts us as a member. We are just exploring the potential of the plot and have not taken any official approval. Also, eight to nine bungalows on the plot are already constructed above two floors," he said. The society's secretary Robert Weisinger said the property remains under a DRT status quo order. "We cannot do anything until this case is resolved," he said, adding that membership transfer was declined because doing so during ongoing litigation "would be against the law". He said Shetty had "no permission from the church to use the FSI" and no NOC from the society. H-West ward's assistant commissioner Dinesh Pallewad and a BMC building proposals department official said they had not yet received the society's legal notice....