4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 14, 2026 04:43 PM IST
The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed the appeal against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order rejecting a plea challenging the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance to add two floors to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Mumbai sea-facing bungalow.
A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said it had doubts on the credentials of the petitioner, Mumbai-based activist Santosh Daundkar.
The appeal challenged the September 16, 2025, order of NGT, Western Zone, dismissing Daundkar’s plea.
‘Laws are going to apply to all ‘
Appearing for Daundkar, Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam told the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, that the project was worth over Rs 5 crore and projects exceeding Rs 5 crore require CRZ clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, but this was not obtained.
Alam contended that NGT did not address this aspect.
Alam added that, since it is a heritage site, it was the ministry’s responsibility to grant CRZ sanction, but in the current case, the sanction was granted by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. “Only because this gentleman is a film star, it does not mean the laws will not apply. The laws are going to apply to all and every.”
Justice Bagchi said, “We are in no way influenced” by people’s status.
CJI Kant pointed out that it was not a case of someone exploiting a property for commercial gain. “They are living there. If in a residential house they want to have (additional floors) … it’s their choice. Law is broadly being followed. Why should neighbour or anybody else (intervene)?”.
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Alam said his concern is that the law must be followed.
‘Mockery of welfare laws’
The appeal contended that NGT could not have dismissed the plea without specifically and technically evaluating the 13-specific grounds and law violations raised. The plea said the land was reserved for an art gallery under the statutory Development Plan.
“Unfortunately, notwithstanding the fact that under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification of 1991, change of use was not permitted, yet the Government of Maharashtra, without the mandatory permission of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, deleted the ‘Art Gallery’ reservation.”
“Thereafter, around the year 2006, the Project Proponent demolished the ancillary structures within the heritage compound, and thereupon constructed a Ground+6 floor building in the appurtenant land within the ‘Heritage Building’. For this, he did not take the mandatory approval of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. This construction was done by the Project Proponent by seeking permission to construct 12 flats of 1 Bedroom-Hall-Kitchen for mass housing, because at the relevant time, the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, was in force and larger flats on appurtenant land were not permitted.
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“Once the Project Proponent got approval to construct these 12 flats for mass housing, he unauthorisedly merged all these 12-Flats of 1 Bedroom-Hall-Kitchen meant for mass housing and converted them into a palatial single-family accommodation, thereby making a mockery of the welfare laws. Further, construction of 2 basements on land very close to the seashore required dewatering and plugging of groundwater aquifers with concrete,” the plea said.
“This could not have been done because the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991, prohibited any extraction of groundwater through mechanical means. Notwithstanding such a large number of legacy violations, the Project Proponent decided to add an additional 2 floors to the earlier building, which was already affected by a large number of serious violations. Unfortunately, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority decided to completely ignore these legacy violations, and granted the CRZ Clearance for fresh construction vide the impugned CRZ Clearance dated January 2, 2025,” the plea added.
