The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which deposited the money today, also filed an appeal for a stay against the City Civil Court's order directing Municipal Commissioner Girish Gokhale, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijay Patankar and Ward Officer (R-North) Anil Khoje to pay the plaintiff Rs 3,000 each as compensation. The appeal was, however, dismissed as not maintainable, according to the plaintiff's advocate, V A Thorat.

``However Justic R Lodha of the high court has allowed the appeal to be converted into a Civil Revision Application (CRA) to be placed before another judge,'' he said. The BMC's Law Officer, A H Chheda, added that the high court has permitted the CRA but has kept itpending for admission till April 7. She refused to say any more as the matter is sub-judice.

Last week, the City Civil Court had directed the three senior officials to pay the compensation from their personal accounts for mental agony caused due to their failure to demolish the illegal structures on the plaintiff's plot despite a contempt notice.

However, the cash-strapped BMC, which has engaged the services of senior private counsels to contest the case, is going to great lengths to prevent them from dipping into their own pockets.

Still, it was the BMC's advocate who surrendered the money in court, leaving Judge Laxmi Tonsekar of the City Civil Court wondering whether ``the amount was from the officials' pockets as was explicitly ordered or from the BMC's funds''.

The court had ordered Gokhale, Patankar and Khoje to pay the plaintiff, Ratilal Mistry, Rs 3,000 each as compensatory costs for the ``mental agony caused to him due to delay'' on the BMC's part in demolishing illegal structures, which hadbeen built on a plot he owns at Borivli. However, even as the BMC's advocate tendered the amount, only Khoje and Patankar were present in court. Gohkale remained absent.

Meanwhile, as the BMC wages a legal battle against Mistry, it also sent an emmissary to the plaintiff offering an amicable settlement if he does not contest its appeal in court. Mistry told Express Newsline that a junior engineer from R-North Ward visited him at his residence on Sunday, saying the civic authorities would in return get his land vacated and the necessary Balbale and Pawaskar have been remanded to police custody till April 12, 1999.

approval for the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) within a week.Under the city's Development Plan, Mistry's land has been reserved for a garden and for road-widening, which prevents him from building on the plot. In lieu of the reservation, he is entitled to TDR.

Mistry's land was encroached upon by Puskar R Jani, a trustee and head priest of the Ambaji temple at Borivali, and JaiwantJadhav, who owns a ladies' bar in the same suburb. They had built eight unauthorised shops on the plot, allegeldy in collusion with civic officials.

However, despite a court order directing the BMC to demolish the structures, the civic authorities had displayed unusual inertia in the matter. It was only after the City Civil Court issued a contempt notice that the BMC swing into action on March 26. Jadhav had allegedly even offered Mistry Rs 10 lakh to stall the bulldozers a few hours before the demolition.

Moreover, though the court had also directed the BMC to ensure that no further encroachments were built, Mistry said a hutment occupied by a family thad been erected three days ago.