In a blistering slapdown that every arrogant managing committee in Maharashtra needs to read twice, the Bombay High Court has put overreaching housing societies firmly in their place: Stick to collecting maintenance and updating records. Do not dare decide who owns the flat or settle family inheritance battles.
Justice Amit Borkar, in a hard-hitting judgment delivered on April 18, 2026, dismantled the high-handed tactics of the Malad Cooperative Housing Society and sent a clear warning to all cooperative societies across the state.
“A cooperative housing society is not a forum for adjudicating title disputes, succession claims, partition matters or proprietary entitlements between legal heirs,” the court thundered. “It is not vested with powers akin to a civil court. The society’s function is strictly confined to management of its affairs, regulation of membership, maintenance of internal records, and recognition of persons only for administration and collection of dues.”
The message is brutally direct: Collect the maintenance cheques. Update the share certificates. Stay in your administrative lane. Stop acting like judges, blocking heirs, demanding endless NOCs, or playing god with people’s homes.
The case arose when the Malad society refused membership to Radheshyam Dhanuka in Flat No. 4/31, citing “multiple legal heirs” and vague title issues — even though he had lived there for decades, paid dues (which the society happily accepted), and the family’s earlier title suit against him had been unconditionally withdrawn.
The High Court shredded this approach. It ruled that societies need only form a prima facie opinion on who appears to be the legal heir — not conduct trials on ownership. Recognition as a member does not decide or extinguish actual title. Real ownership fights belong exclusively in civil courts.
This verdict is a massive setback for the countless societies that routinely behave like feudal kingdoms — delaying transfers for years, harassing successors, rejecting applications on flimsy “dispute” grounds, and treating flat owners like commoners begging for favours.
Justice Borkar made it crystal clear: Mere existence of multiple heirs is not an excuse to sit on applications indefinitely. Societies cannot convert themselves into tribunals of title. Their job is practical administration — nothing more.
For flat owners and legal heirs who have suffered years of society tyranny, this judgment is a powerful shield. Managing committees that continue to overstep now risk being dragged to court and having their decisions overturned with strong observations.
The Bombay High Court has spoken loud and clear: Housing societies, know your place. Handle dues and records. Do not decide the fate of flat owners. You simply don’t have that right. In literal terms, the Court said to society That’s way above your pay grade.
