Malad Cooperative Housing Society Limited Vs State of Maharashtra (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition challenging the order of the Divisional Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, which had granted deemed membership of a flat in a cooperative housing society to one of the legal heirs of a deceased joint shareholder. The Court held that the impugned order did not suffer from any perversity, jurisdictional error, or manifest injustice and therefore did not warrant interference under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.
The dispute concerned Flat No. 31 in a cooperative housing society, where the share certificate stood jointly in the names of Pannadevi Dhanuka and late Ramlal Dhanuka. Following the death of the original holders and the subsequent withdrawal of a title suit filed by Pannadevi and continued by her legal heirs, one of Ramlal Dhanuka’s sons applied for membership in the society as the legal representative of the deceased shareholder. The society did not take a decision on the application for nearly a year and ultimately rejected it, citing the absence of title documents. The applicant thereafter approached the Deputy Registrar for deemed membership, whose application was initially rejected. On revision, the Divisional Joint Registrar set aside that rejection and granted deemed membership after considering that the applicant was in possession of the flat, the earlier title suit had been withdrawn, no objections had been received from other legal heirs, maintenance charges had been accepted by the society, and grant of membership would not determine ownership rights.
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