MUMBAI, July 16 -- The Bombay high court on Tuesday stayed further demolition of Tehzeeb Islamic English School in Govandi till July 20, hours after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) partially razed the building in its first demolition drive against unauthorised schools. A division bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and S.M. Modak directed the BMC not to carry out any further demolition after being informed that the school trust's appeal against the demolition order was pending before the additional collector and the appellate authority (encroachment and removal). "Accordingly, the Corporation is directed not to demolish the subject structure till the next date," the bench said, while asking the BMC's counsel to immediately communicate the order to the demolition squad. In March, the BMC's education department released a list of 164 unauthorised schools. FIRs have been registered against 74 schools, and the civic body began demolishing buildings after relocating students. The school, run by the Scholar Education Trust, caters to around 600 students. The trust told the court that the BMC issued a demolition order on July 7, declaring the structure unauthorised under the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971. The trust challenged the order before the competent authorities on July 9 and sought a stay, but the appeal had not been heard when the BMC began demolition on Tuesday. Following the civic action, the trust moved the high court through advocate Madhavi Ayyappan, alleging a "complete breakdown of statutory machinery" and "deliberate administrative stonewalling." The petition alleged that the demolition was driven by "selective political vendettas" and carried out despite a statutory appeal being pending. It also claimed the action violated the 15-day protection period mandated by the Supreme Court and referred to BJP leader Kirit Somaiya's campaign against unauthorised slum schools, while arguing that the state had given a policy to regularise such institutions. They contended that the authorities had not shown the building to be a C-1 (highly dilapidated) structure warranting immediate demolition. The building was structurally sound and that demolition during monsoon was contrary to disaster management protocols....