BMC resumes demolition of Mumbai's Habitat studio where Kunal Kamra mocked Eknath Shinde

Kunal Kamra row: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers on Tuesday reportedly resumed the demolition work of an illegal structure at Mumbai's Habitat Studio on Monday, the venue where stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra made controversial remarks on Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.

The BMC cited rule violations as the reason for the action. This marks the second consecutive day that BMC officials visited Unicontinental, The Habitat, in Khar, to demolish the unauthorised section of the venue.

In less than 24 hours after Kunal Kamra’s video, purportedly shot at the venue, showing him taking an alleged dig at Eknath Shinde was shared on social media, which led to Shiv Sainiks ransacking the studio and furore among the ruling Mahayuti players, the BMC swung into action and demolished an illegal part of the club on Monday afternoon.

The civic body’s action came after state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik reached out to BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to demolish the studio, calling it illegal. Speaking to Hindustan Times on Monday, Gagrani said he alerted the assistant commissioner of H Ward, Vinayak Vispute to “check possible illegalities in the structure”.

The BMC team found that the owners of the studio had erected a make-shift shed on the terrace, which the civic team razed. The team also found that the basement was being used as a studio – a space only meant to be used for storage.

“We told them to remove the shed which is illegal. Since they were unable to do so, our people removed it,” Vispute said, adding notices are not issued to owners of property if the illegal additions made are temporary in nature.

“The basement is meant for storage – a norm flouted by the club. This is illegal. We are looking at this closely. We got the building plan, and will proceed on the next course of action on Tuesday. We will be able to say conclusively on what lies ahead then,” said Vispute.

After Sunday’s incident, Khar police has posted a state reserve police force and a posse from Khar police to guard the building.

Shiv Sena chief of social media, Rahool Kanal who led the attack on the studio on Sunday, said, “This studio is completely illegal. There is no NOC from fire department. The basement is being used as a studio which is illegal. When we went to protest on Sunday, I called the studio’s owner, who only gave evasive replies.”

When HT reached out to the owner of the studio, Balraj Ghai, he evaded the calls claiming he was busy with officers and that he would call back later, which did not happen till the time of going to press.

Habitat Studio shuts down

On Monday, Habitat Studio announced they were shutting down after Shiv Sena workers vandalised its premises. In an Instagram post, the studio said, "We are shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us."

The studio said artistes are “solely responsible for their views and creative choices”, and it has never been involved in the content performed by them.

"But recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted every time almost like we are the proxy for the performer", it said.

"We are shutting down till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy. We invite all artistes, audience and stakeholders to discuss and share their views free and request your guidance so that we also respect the performers’ rights," the note further read.

In a previous post, Habitat Studio issued an apology to “all those hurt by this video”. "The Habitat is not involved in the making of the recent video of Kunal Kamra and it does not endorse the views expressed," it said. Habitat Studio, where Kamra's show was held, is the same venue where the controversial 'India's Got Latent' show was filmed and led to major controversy last month.

(With inputs from Yogesh Naik in Mumbai)