Arunkumar H Shah Huf Vs Avon Arcade Premises Co-Operative Society Limited & Ors (Supreme Court of India)
Introduction
The Supreme Court in its recent judgement given by a division bench consisting of Justice Oka and Justice Bhuyan in Arunkumar H. Shah HUF v. Avon Arcade Premises Co-operative Society Ltd.[1] (hereinafter “Arunkumar H. Shah HUF case”) clarified key aspects of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963,[2] (hereinafter “MOFA”), particularly Section 11’s remedy of deemed conveyance. MOFA, enacted to protect flat purchasers by regulating the construction, sale, and transfer of flats, requires promoters under Section 4 to execute sale agreements and eventually convey title to apartment owners or their society under Section 11(1).
If the promoter defaults, Section 11(3) introduced by a 2008 amendment to MOFA allows the society to apply to the Competent Authority for a certificate of deemed conveyance, intended as a “speedy remedy to enforce the promoter’s obligation.” In the Arunkumar H. Shah HUF case, the society obtained an ex-parte deemed-conveyance certificate for the entire development, subject to a lease of the subject plot to the promoter.
The Bombay High Court upheld the decision of the Competent Authority while preserving the appellant’s lease rights and allowed the appellant to litigate title issues separately. The Supreme Court in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) framed issues regarding the scope of the Competent Authority’s and Sub-Registrar’s powers under Section 11 of MOFA, the SLP was dismissed, which affirmed the legality of the Competent Authority’s order.
