The Bombay High Court has affirmed the Divisional Joint Registrar’s order (revisional authority), holding that Section 23(2) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (“the Act”) pertains only to disputes concerning the eligibility for membership of the society and does not deal with the declaration of title. The court further held that only the person directly impacted by the ruling has locus standi to intervene in the proceeding.
The conflict stemmed from competing writ petitions challenging decisions made by the revisional authority that granted membership of Bay View Cooperative Housing Society to Respondent No.2. The petitioner contended that the flat at issue was included as part of the security under an arbitral award arising from disputes with Bombay Slum Redevelopment Corporation Ltd., and that the later transfer of the flat to Respondent No.2 was aimed at undermining his arbitral claim.
The Bombay High Court observed that the interim protection granted under the arbitral award does not extend to the flat in dispute. Justice Amit Borkar also held that Section 23(2) of the Act is strictly confined to whether the person is eligible or satisfies the conditions for membership under the Act. The court further held that the proceeding does not deal with ownership rights and does not decide the civil dispute arising out of the contract under an arbitral award.
The court further rejected the locus standi of the Petitioner and held that a mere monetary claim does not confer the right to intervene in the membership proceeding. The court also rejected the writ petition of the society, as the society failed to exhaust the alternate remedy of revision against the appellant’s order. Accordingly, the Bombay High Court dismissed both the writ petitions and upheld the revisional authority’s decision granting membership to the Respondent No. 2.
Appearance:
Senior Advocate S. U. Kamdar, along with Advocate Gauraj Shah, Ritika Rajeev, Prashant P. Kulkarni, and Rachana Mamnani for the Petitioner.
AGP Sulbha D. Chipade, along with Senior Advocate S. U. Kamdar and Advocate Pradeep Thorat, R.U. Deo, Hrutvi Narvekar, Aditya Lele, Prashant P. Kulkarni, Rachana Mamnani, Y.D. Patil, Gauraj Shah, and Ritika Rajeev for Respondents.
