Supreme Court Delivers Landmark Ruling: Housing Societies Can’t Be Denied Deemed Conveyance Over External Disputes
Top Court Rebukes Authorities, Orders Title Transfer To Mumbai Society Within 45 Days — ₹50,000 Cost Imposed On Promoter
New Delhi, August 20, 2025 — In a historic victory for thousands of housing societies across Maharashtra, the Supreme Court of India has ruled that Competent Authorities cannot withhold deemed conveyance on the grounds of unrelated civil disputes. The apex court’s verdict in Supreme Court Bar Co-operative Housing Society vs. Competent Authority & Ors. marks a turning point in property rights enforcement under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963.
The Mumbai-based Supreme Court Bar Co-operative Housing Society, established more than four decades ago, had been denied ownership of its land and building by the District Deputy Registrar, Mumbai, who cited a pending civil suit over a shared access road. Both the Competent Authority and the Bombay High Court upheld this rejection — until the Supreme Court intervened, calling such reasoning “a gross misapplication of MOFA and a denial of statutory justice.”
Court’s Key Observations
The bench categorically held that Section 11 of MOFA creates a mandatory duty on the part of promoters to transfer ownership to housing societies within four months of completion or registration. Any non-compliance, it said, automatically triggers the society’s right to deemed conveyance — an unconditional statutory remedy to prevent indefinite delays.
The judges clarified that the Competent Authority’s role is purely administrative, not judicial. It cannot reject an application on the basis of external litigation, such as a dispute over a neighboring property or access rights, which does not alter the boundaries or ownership of the society’s own land.
Citing Promoters and Builders Association vs. State of Maharashtra (2015), the court reaffirmed that flat purchasers’ rights outweigh promoter and third-party claims. It also warned that bureaucratic obstructionism and promoter non-cooperation defeat the very objective of MOFA — safeguarding cooperative housing ownership.
Orders With Consequence
- The Bombay High Court’s March 2025 order and the Competent Authority’s 2024 rejection were quashed.
- The Competent Authority was directed to issue the deemed conveyance certificate within 45 days.
- The promoter must submit all project documents within 30 days, facilitating registration under the Registration Act, 1908.
- A cost of ₹50,000 was imposed on the promoter for causing unwarranted litigation and delay.
Why This Judgment Matters
This ruling delivers a decisive message: housing societies cannot be trapped by technicalities or external disputes when seeking ownership of their land and buildings. The court’s strong stance curtails misuse of administrative discretion and reaffirms the supremacy of MOFA’s buyer protection provisions.
For thousands of cooperative housing societies awaiting conveyance across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and Navi Mumbai, the judgment is a precedent-setting relief. It not only strengthens redevelopment eligibility but also restores faith in the judicial system’s ability to check bureaucratic overreach.
