NEW YORK, NY March 19, 2008 —A federal judge has ruled that three countries must pay the city more than $57 million in real estate taxes. The judge says diplomatic privileges don't exempt the countries from tax obligations.

The case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 that the city had a right to collect taxes on parts of buildings used for non-diplomatic purposes.

India has to pay more than $42 million for a Manhattan tower with 20 floors of apartments occupied by diplomatic employees.

Mongolia must pay just more than $4 million and the Philippines must pay just less than $11 million for a building on Fifth Avenue whose commercial tenants include a restaurant, a bank and an airline office.