Housing Society Withdraws Appeals from NCDRC after Builder Executes Deemed Conveyance

Moneylife Digital Team 06 September 2023

A cooperative housing society (CHS) in Thane decided to withdraw appeals and waive its right to receive Rs50,000 costs after the builder executed a deemed conveyance in favour of the CHS.

While allowing Harmony CHS from Thane to withdraw the appeal, the national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) bench of justice AP Sahi (president) and Dr Sadhna Shanker (member) modified the order issued by the Maharashtra state consumer disputes redressal commission for the costs. "The directions of the state commission, which, according to the respondents (Harmony CHS), have already been complied with in terms of the order passed by the district sub-registrar for cooperative societies at Thane dated 10 October 2019, are upheld. The counsel for the respondents has stated that this concludes all the disputes and will amount to full and final settlement insofar as these two appeals are concerned."

In May 2013, the Maharashtra state commission directed Thane-based Prestige Builders to obtain an occupancy certificate (OC) for the CHS building Harmony within six months of registering the CHS of the flat purchasers of Harmony building. It also directed Prestige Builders, the developer and Nitin Castings Ltd, the property owner, to execute a conveyance deed in favour of Harmony CHS.

The builder and the property owner challenged the state commission order before NCDRC.

However, during the pendency of the appeals, these issues were brought up before the district sub-registrar for cooperative societies at Thane in terms of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963. On 10 October 2019, the district sub-registrar passed an order leading to the execution of a deemed conveyance of Harmony CHS.

The counsel for Harmony CHS submitted a resolution passed by Harmony CHS to dispose the appeals as they received the outcome of the decree of the state commission from another authority. The Society also passed a resolution in its general body meeting (GBM) to waive its right to receive Rs50,000 cost, as awarded by the state commission, from the builder.

The counsel for Prestige Builders pointed out that the resolution is only for Harmony CHS and not the other 45 individual flat buyers or owners. The counsel for the Society stated that the words of the communication (GBM resolution) may not be specific, but the resolution is not only on behalf of the CHS but also on behalf of those 45 individual flat buyers, and owners who are shareholders of the Society and the resolution binds them as well.

Accepting the submission and considering the communication, NCDRC disposed appeals filed by Prestige Builders and Nitin Castings.

(First Appeal No673 of 2013/82 of 2014 Date: 29 August 2023)