Supreme Court Upholds Mulund Society’s Deemed Conveyance, Rejects Developer’s Seven-Year-Delayed Challenge
Post-Grant Assignments Cannot Undo Statutory Conveyance Under MOFA, Rules Apex Court
The Supreme Court of India on November 10, 2025 dismissed an SLP filed by Jaydeep Developers, affirming the 2017 deemed conveyance granted to Lok Everest Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. in Mulund East and upholding the Bombay High Court’s March 20, 2025 refusal to interfere.
The society—formed in 2005 for a 120-flat residential building on a 2,500 sq. m. plot—secured the conveyance in 2017 after 13 years of promoter default, including failure to execute conveyance deeds despite partial OCs (2010) and alleged withholding of a ₹1.5-crore corpus.
Jaydeep Developers, who acquired partial assignment rights after the conveyance order through a March 29, 2018 deed, sought to challenge the vesting in 2024, claiming superior title to an 800 sq. m. portion required for 2.8 FSI redevelopment. The society countered with 85% member approval, a C-1 structural audit, and proof of long-pending defaults.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s dismissal, stressing that MOFA Section 11 creates a statutory vesting upon verified default, one that cannot be undone by post-grant private assignments. Citing Arunkumar H. Shah HUF vs. Avon Arcade (2025), the Court reaffirmed that “post-conveyance deeds cannot retroactively dilute society title.”
The Bench further held that seven years of delay without “sufficient cause” extinguishes the challenge under the Limitation Act, distinguishing the matter from cases like Swastik Promoters (2025) where fresh evidence warranted limited review. Here, “no equitable or legal grounds” existed to disturb the settled conveyance.
The Court clarified that RERA Section 17 strengthens MOFA by prioritizing title clarity for redevelopment and warned against “speculative FSI-driven challenges” designed to fragment plots in Mulund’s legacy layouts.
The SLP was dismissed with liberty to pursue independent civil suits on assignment disputes—but without reopening the conveyance.
Key directives include:
- Upholding 2017 conveyance and 2025 HC judgment.
- Allowing a 120-day window for civil suits excluding conveyance retesting.
- Mandating MahaRERA quarterly updates on the society’s 2.5 FSI self-redevelopment.
- Ordering a 60-day audit-linked demarcation review for the disputed 800 sq. m. by the Competent Authority.
The ruling strengthens conveyance finality across Mumbai’s 900+ pending legacy cases, curbs developer forum-shopping, and reinforces that delayed post-assignment claims cannot destabilize society titles essential for redevelopment.
