Ex-top cop Satyapal Singh asked me to keep off Amar Juice Centre: Ashoke Pandit

Ashoke Pandit, film director-producer, Censor Board member and resident of Juhu Vile Parle Development scheme, has accused former police chief and Lok Sabha MP Satyapal Singh of asking him not to meddle in the affairs of Amar Juice Centre. Singh has refuted all allegations.

Pandit along with JVPD residents has been opposing the roadside eatery for more than a decade on the grounds that it has encroached upon the footpath and is adding to their traffic woes. Pandit said he recently learnt that the juice centre had managed to get permission to operate till 3 am.

"Ex. Police Commissioner & BJP M.P. Satyapal Singh calls me & tells me not 2 trouble Amar Juice Centre, which is a nuisance for Juhu residents," Pandit tweeted on Friday.

Satyapal Singh denied the charges. "I never pressured him. In fact, Pandit has interest in a plot where the owners of Amar Juice Centre have interest. I guess there is a big misunderstanding. I never spoke to him about the juice centre," said Singh.

Pandit said that despite repeated protests, neither the BMC nor the police have taken any action against the fast-food joint. "Now, I have realised why the cops were hesitant to taking action. The then top cop must be helping the juice centre. He told me not to trouble Joshi (the owner)."

The filmmaker and Censor Board member said he was in no mood to give up. Accusing the BMC of siding with the eatery, he said the civic body had written to the home department stating that the residents had no objection if the juice centre was given a special licence to operate till 3am.

Tushar Joshi, owner of Amar juice, said he was given the special licence along with 25 other hotel owners. "And that too about 6 to 8 months ago. I have been given the licence since there is a hospital and a post mortem centre in the vicinity. There is no other facility in the area for the patients' relatives for food and water."

Joshi said on one hand there are talks of 24x7 eateries, while on the other, some people are opposed to food joints that have proper licences. "This is not a residential area. Even the traffic department has no objection. Why should the BMC and police not give me a licence?"