The Bombay High Court (HC) recently confirmed a ruling that barred Pawankumar Singh, a Kandivali homeowner, from serving on his housing society's governing committee. Singh was disqualified because he has more than two children, which violates the "small family" rule under the 2019 amendment to the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (MCS) Act, 1960.
Singh was a member of the Charkop Kandivali Ekta Nagar Co-operative Housing Society. His disqualification followed complaints from Deepak Tejade and Ramachal Yadav. They claimed that Singh was not eligible to serve due to having more than two children. They based their complaint on Section 154B-23 of the MCS Act.
Initially, the deputy registrar disqualified Singh in May 2023. Singh appealed this decision, but the Divisional Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies upheld the disqualification on May 2. Later, Singh filed a petition with the court.
Singh's attorney, Swapnil Bangur, argued that Section 154B(1) of the MCS Act prevents co-operative housing societies from applying Sections 154B-1 to 154B-31. Therefore, he claimed the deputy registrar had no jurisdiction to disqualify Singh. He argued that the complaint should have been dismissed.
Uday Warunjikar, the attorney for Yadav, contended that housing societies are subject to the relevant statutes. He argued that Section 154B-23 independently mandates disqualification for members with more than two children.
Justice Avinash Gharote of the Bombay High Court accepted Warunjikar's arguments. The court found no fault with the decision to remove Singh from the committee due to jurisdiction issues.
Singh argued that one of the three children listed on his ration card was not his own child but was brought into his home for educational purposes. However, the court noted that Singh had added the child’s name to his ration card and did not provide the boy's birth certificate. Consequently, the court dismissed Singh's claim and upheld the disqualification.
Share
Tweet
