BMC not a comedy stage, Sena tells Kapil Sharma

Lashing out at Kapil Sharma over his bribe allegations against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, the Shiv Sena on Saturday hit back at the comedian, saying he was carrying an illegal construction and, therefore, an action should be initiated against him first and then after it should be seen whether he was asked for a bribe or not.

Speaking to ANI, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the comedian should know that the BMC is not a stage of comedy.

"Kapil Sharma ji does comedy. But BMC is not a comedy stage. First of all, he should tell the name of the person who asked for a bribe from him, when did he ask and why did he ask. The whole episode is about an illegal construction which Kapil Sharma ji has been carrying out. I think a case should be registered against him in this regard," Raut said.

"I think an action should be taken against him first and then it should be seen whether a person had asked for a bribe from him or not. I think it was not right for him to make allegations against anyone. If he (Kapil Sharma) was given the permission to carry out his illegal construction, he would not have complained about all this," he added.

The Shiv Sena leader further insisted that the comedian has not done a big thing by paying an income tax of Rs. five crores in five years, as it is the responsibility of every individual to pay the tax.

Sharma, who is facing the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), had yesterday insisted that he just "voiced his concern on the corruption he faced" and did not "blame any political party."

"I just voiced my concern on the corruption I faced with certain individuals..Its No blame on any political party be it BJP, MNS or ShivSena," Sharma said in a tweet.

Responding to this, the Shiv Sena leader said, "If your voice is against corruption then we stand by you. But you should first furnish all the details about the bribe episode."

The MNS had earlier on Friday threatened Sharma to prove bribe allegations against BMC officials or face action.

"Kapil Sharma said that a MNS worker asked for bribe to legalize his under construction building, we challenge him to prove his allegations. If he is unable to prove his allegations then we won't allow him to shoot in Mumbai till he apologises to us," Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) Chitrapat Sena President Amey Khopkar said.

Kapil Sharma has claimed that he was asked to pay a bribe by a BMC official for his new office that is under construction.

BMC vigilance chief engineer Manohar Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have both responded to Sharma and assured that they are looking into the matter.

While Pawar asked Sharma to make a formal complaint and name the officer who demanded bribe from him, the Chief Minister responded to his tweet asking for the name.