Family Dispute No Bar: Cooperative Court Backs Housing Society’s Redevelopment Efforts In Pune
Kothrud, 7th February 2024: In a significant ruling, the Cooperative Court has declared that a family’s internal court dispute should not impede the redevelopment process of a cooperative housing society. This decision marks a triumph for the Indrashree Sahakari Griharachna Sanstha Limited, situated in Dahanukar Colony, Kothrud, concluding a two-year legal battle that had been hindering the organization’s redevelopment efforts.
The cooperative society had passed a resolution in 2022, during a special general meeting, to undertake the redevelopment of its aging structure. In June 2022, a developer was unanimously chosen to spearhead the project, and initially, no objections were raised during these legal proceedings. However, complications arose when one of the society members passed away, triggering a court dispute that had been ongoing since 1997 among the deceased member’s family.
Despite the unanimous legal decisions in favor of redevelopment, the family members of the deceased, citing the unresolved dispute pending in the district court since 1997, refused to hand over possession of the flat and declined to sign the necessary redevelopment documents.
In response to this obstacle, the society, represented by Adv Nitin Munot, filed a claim in the Cooperative Court in 2022. Initially, the Cooperative Court rejected the society’s application for an interim order regarding possession. Undeterred, the society appealed this decision to the Cooperative Appellate Court, Mumbai (Pune Bench).
The appellate court, in its verdict, ordered all heirs of the deceased member to immediately surrender possession of the flat to the society. Additionally, the court mandated that all heirs cooperate by signing all redevelopment documents, effectively removing the impediment to the cooperative housing society’s redevelopment efforts.
This ruling reinforces the principle that family disputes should not obstruct the broader interests of cooperative societies engaged in essential redevelopment activities.
