Not a cozy neighbour!

Deepika Padukone shifted from her Pali Hill residence to her plush new 4-BHK apartment in Prabhadevi last week. But her ex-apartment is still on her mind. One of her neighbours from Cozy Home (Deepika's apartment complex in Pali Hill), businessman Pankaj Shahani does not want the actress to avail of the parking facility in the complex anymore. And Shahani who lives on the 9th floor of B wing, exactly 2 floors above the actress' last apartment is giving Deepika a tough time regarding the same.

A source from the building told Mumbai Mirror, "The Deepika-Shahani war is well known in the building. Deepika hasn't sold her flat as yet. So if she wants, she can continue to hold her parking facility. She can continue to use her parking space (No.17) as long as she owns the flat. The day she sells her flat, she would automatically lose her rights over the parking space. Shahani's complaint is unjustified and borders on harassment. However, she has our full support. We are not just defending her because she is Deepika Padukone the star, but because we are going by the rules."

Shahani however, is in no mood to give up on the tussle. According to a senior member of the managing committee, the man is so driven in his war against Deepika that four days ago he sent a written complaint to the managing committee of Cozy Home. The managing committee of the building even spoke to Deepika on Friday about it. Revealed the source, "They have told Shahani that they will observe Deepika's frequency of coming into Cozy Home for the next three months and then take a call."

Reasoning why Shahani has launched a fight over Deepika's parking space, another source from the building said, "Shahani wants Deepika's parking to be allotted to him. That man has five cars. He wants more parking space than he has at the moment."

When contacted, Shahani chose to deny the entire fight. He said, "I am not against Deepika. I am not eyeing her car space. I just said that logically it should pass on to the next person in queue for a parking space. There is a guy whose wife delivered a baby not so long ago, until recently he was parking his car on the slope of our building. He obviously needs that space."

Soon, we got a call from a gentleman claiming to be the man who Shahani had spoken to us about. "I am parking my car in Deepika's car space but I don't wish to divulge my name. And as far as I know, the parking space is not given to people simply because they own the flat. It's the society's parking space and should pass on to the next person who needs that space the most."

To this, the senior member of the society retorted, "That man who called you does not own any flat in Cozy Home, he is just a tenant. He is not parking his car in Deepika's car space, he is simply a friend of Shahani."

According to Deepika's friend, "Shahani's issues against Deepika hold no water. After she shifted, Dippy has gone back to the building many times. And she has no plans to sell the flat in the recent future."

The building's managing committee has come up with a plan to save Deepika from losing her parking space. She has been advised to park her other car on near permanent basis in the parking space in Cozy Home. "Deepika can come in her Audi 7 and when she drops in, her driver can park her Accent somewhere close by. And when she leaves, he can park the Accent back in the parking space. That would keep the people who are eyeing her parking space quiet, we believe," said the source from the apartment complex.

Though Deepika remained unavailable for comment, Madhu Poplai, secretary of the PHRA (Pali hill Residents association), who also stays in the same society, said, "No comments from my side."