Mumbai:
Film director Subhash Ghai says he will ask the Supreme Court to over-rule a verdict that asks him to return 20 acres of land in Film City, Goregaon to the state government. Yesterday, the Bombay High Court said the government had wrongly charged Mr Ghai a rent that is way below market rates. One of Mr Ghai's biggest hits ever was a film named Karz or "debt."
"I am in a soup, the government is in a soup," the director told NDTV today. He's been asked to immediately return five acres that are currently unused; the rest of the property can be used by him for some time so that students currently enrolled there are not affected and can graduate as scheduled.
The verdict delivered yesterday has, in many ways, far more serious implications for union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who signed off on the deal with Mr Ghai. In May 2000, Mr Deshmukh was Chief Minister when his government entered a joint venture with Mr Ghai's Mukta Arts. The court said that Mr Deshmukh had misused his office when he was Chief Minister of Maharashtra to give 21 acres of land to film Mr Ghai.
The verdict comes days before Mumbai votes for the party that will run its powerful and rich corporation. The Congress in partnership with Sharad Pawar's party is up against the Shiv Sena-BJP combination.
"It's not possible to build educational institutions at current land prices in any city, government has to allocate land for this." tweeted director Shekhar Kapur today.
"I am in a soup, the government is in a soup," the director told NDTV today. He's been asked to immediately return five acres that are currently unused; the rest of the property can be used by him for some time so that students currently enrolled there are not affected and can graduate as scheduled.
The verdict delivered yesterday has, in many ways, far more serious implications for union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who signed off on the deal with Mr Ghai. In May 2000, Mr Deshmukh was Chief Minister when his government entered a joint venture with Mr Ghai's Mukta Arts. The court said that Mr Deshmukh had misused his office when he was Chief Minister of Maharashtra to give 21 acres of land to film Mr Ghai.
The verdict comes days before Mumbai votes for the party that will run its powerful and rich corporation. The Congress in partnership with Sharad Pawar's party is up against the Shiv Sena-BJP combination.
"It's not possible to build educational institutions at current land prices in any city, government has to allocate land for this." tweeted director Shekhar Kapur today.
