Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ruled that developers cannot indefinitely defer their statutory obligations by citing contractual or procedural contingencies. It directed the District Deputy Registrar (DDR), Co-operative Societies, Mumbai City (4), to issue a conveyance certificate to Veer Tower Co-operative Housing Society in Kandivali, which has been awaiting the certificate for a decade.
Justice Amit Borkar held that the developer’s objection — requiring the society to wait for redevelopment completion and the formation of a federation — was legally untenable. “The statutory scheme of MOFA (Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963), particularly Section 11, confers an immediate and enforceable right to conveyance upon societies, irrespective of contractual or developmental contingencies,” the court stated while directing the registrar to grant deemed conveyance based on the society’s architect’s certificate.
The order, passed on February 18, set aside the DDR’s May 9, 2022 decision rejecting the society’s proposal under Section 11 of MOFA. Veer Tower CHS had sought conveyance for 9,140.83 square meters of built-up area from the total 17,676.95 square meters.
Developers Shree Sainath Constructions, Bhadra Enterprises, and Vandana Properties opposed the plea, arguing that the agreement of sale stipulated that conveyance would be granted to a federation comprising Veer Tower, five Dev Nagar housing societies, and future societies.
They maintained that the society had agreed to amalgamate plots and complete redevelopment before seeking conveyance. The developers also questioned the authenticity of the architect’s certificate and the society’s authority to seek separate conveyance.
Justice Borkar dismissed these objections, emphasising that redevelopment plans for the remaining land were yet to be sanctioned even after a decade. “The assertion that conveyance depends on redevelopment completion is legally unsustainable. MOFA does not subject a society’s statutory rights to the uncertainty of an unapproved redevelopment process,” the court observed.
The court underscored that MOFA prioritises flat buyers’ rights over speculative contractual clauses and stressed that delays in redevelopment cannot override statutory obligations. “The petitioner’s right to conveyance matured upon executing the agreement and paying consideration. It cannot be subjected to the respondents’ vague assurances of future compliance,” it said.
The DDR has been directed to issue the conveyance certificate within four weeks from March 3, when the parties are to appear before the authority.
