Owner Yasin Qureishi had approached the Bombay High Court after the demolition verdict was passed seeking permission to demolish the structure on his own. The court acceded but ordered him to carry out the demoilition by September 15. However, Qureishi managed to demolish only the terrace and second floor of the structure within the stipulated period.

Thus the court yesterday directed the BMC to take possession of the property from the Court Receiver and begin demolishing the remaining portion. A total of 6,600 square feet was demolished over the past two days.

H West ward sub-enginer A V Gurav who appeared onbehalf of the BMC in Supreme Court was present during the demolition. He told Express Newsline,``The owners could not complete the demolition in time. We have completed 90 percent of the work.'' Deputy municipal commissioner S S Shinde, assisted by a team of engineers including Gurav, U V Mahale, M B Sinkar, and D B Bhagal oversaw the demolition.

Qureshi had filed a suit in the City Civil Court seeking a permanent injunction against BMC and started constructing a ground plus two storey shopping complex by razing the existing small bakery shed. In the process, it not only exceeded its Floor Space Index but also encroached on a plot reserved for the purpose of recreation. On March 27, BMC issued a stop-work notice under Section 354 A of the Municipal Corporation Act.

The matter came up before Judge Laxmi Tonsekar who personally visited the site for inspection, and dismissed the suit on April 7. Qureshi filed another suit challenging the notice of 354 A and obtained an injunction from another court.The BMC then appealed before the Bombay High Court against the trial court's order. The high court ruled in the BMC's favour directing demolition.

The owner then took his appeal to Supreme Court and the petition was dismissed within a few minutes on August 23 in favour of the Bombay High Courts ruling. The BMC is jubilant over the speedy judicial action which spanned over five months time going upto the Supreme Court.