Neelkanth Mansions & Infrastructure Private Limited Vs District Deputy Registrar (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court considered a writ petition challenging an order of the District Deputy Registrar and Competent Authority granting a certificate of unilateral deemed conveyance in favour of a co-operative housing society comprising 12 row houses. The principal issue before the Court was whether, where Transferable Development Rights (TDR) have been utilised in a layout, deemed conveyance must be restricted to the plinth and appurtenant area, or whether proportionate land based on the built-up area (BUA) utilised by the society can also be conveyed where the TDR is distributed across all buildings in the layout.
The developer challenged the Competent Authority’s order granting deemed conveyance of 929.84 sq. m. of land in favour of the society. It contended that since TDR measuring 24,950.45 sq. m. had been utilised in the layout, paragraph 2(C)(vi)(2) of the Government Resolution (GR) dated 22 June 2018 permitted conveyance only of the plinth and appurtenant area. The society and the State supported the order, contending that the GR did not prohibit conveyance of proportionate land and that the society was entitled to its proportionate share despite the use of TDR.
The Court first noted the settled legal position that a society occupying a completed building is not required to wait until completion of the entire layout development before seeking deemed conveyance. It observed that the GR itself contemplates proportionate conveyance in such situations. The only issue requiring determination was whether the use of TDR automatically prevented proportionate conveyance of land.
