Mumbai: Hours after the Bombay High Court reprimanded the Mumbai municipal corporation for acting "on wrongful grounds" and "in malice" in trying to demolish Kangana Ranaut's office, Mayor Kishori Pednekar launched a crude attack, referring to the actor as "do takke ke log (worthless people)".
Ms Pednekar's comment came after the court also criticised Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut for an expletive aimed at Ms Ranaut earlier this year, as the two waged a bitter battle over the Sushant Rajput investigation and comments comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The court also warned Ms Ranaut - who was alleged to have baited the Maharashtra government with incendiary remarks on social media - to "show restraint in airing opinions on the government".
"Everyone is surprised that an actor comes to Mumbai, from Himachal Pradesh, and calls it PoK. Then there are complaints against her. Do takke ke log (worthless people) want to turn the court into a political (circus). This is wrong," Ms Pednekar was quoted by news agency ANI on Friday.
Ms Pednekar also insisted that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or BMC, had acted "according to municipal rules" but "will not disrespect the court".
"We will not disrespect the court order. We will study the order and we will see what orders the High Court has passed on the use of the same section of the law in the past," she said.
On Friday morning the High Court said the BMC's demolition of a part of Ms Ranaut's office - located in a bungalow in Mumbai's Pali Hills, was "nothing but malice in law". Cancelling the civic body's notice, the court also said Ms Ranaut would be compensated for damage caused.
A vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the actor had alleged that the civic body's action against her was a result of comments against Maharashtra's ruling Shiv Sena over its handling of the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation; this included the remark comparing Mumbai to PoK.
Sanjay Raut was then caught on camera flinging an abusive term at Ms Ranaut.
He later told NDTV "I may have made a mistake". Other Sena leaders also went on the offensive, with threats of sedition cases and demands that she not be allowed to return to Mumbai.
The fight took a political turn when the BJP, an ally of the Sena before the two fell out after winning last year's Assembly election, gave her Y-plus security ahead of her return to Mumbai.
The Sena promptly accused the BJP of playing politics, and the BJP responded with a jibe at the Uddhav Thackeray government's handling of the Covid pandemic.
With input from ANI