'Residents Of Integrated Redeveloped Wings Cannot Form Separate CHS By Bypassing Statutory Procedure': Bombay HC

Mumbai's Bombay High Court has ruled that residents of different wings within an integrated redevelopment project cannot establish a separate cooperative housing society by circumventing the legal process outlined in the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. The court dismissed the registration of the Atharva Cooperative Housing Society Ltd., formed by the purchasers of flats in Wings A and B of a Prabhadevi complex.

Justice Sandeep Marne stated that residents seeking to separate from an existing housing society must follow the established division mechanism under Sections 17 and 18 of the Act, rather than attempting to register a new society under Section 9. The court emphasized that permitting such a procedure could undermine the Act's purpose and lead to overlapping jurisdictions over the same property.

The dispute arose from a redevelopment project in Prabhadevi, where the original cooperative housing society was formed in 1968 and later redeveloped along with adjoining plots. The developer, Sugee Developers Pvt. Ltd., constructed a multi-wing building with 240 flats across Wings A, B, C, and D. The purchasers of flats in Wings A and B sought to form a separate society due to management differences, but the court found that these flat purchasers had agreed to become members of the existing society and could not later attempt to create a new society based on social or economic differences. The court granted a six-week stay on its judgment to allow the Atharva CHS to appeal the decision.