Committee of South Bombay tower dissolved by minister gets relief

MUMBAI: In a victory for erstwhile managing committee members and other residents of Grand Paradi, a highrise at Kemp's Corner in south Mumbai, the Bombay high court on Tuesday set aside as the committee's disqualification and appointment of an administrator over the cooperative housing society's affairs.
Mont Blanc Properties, a developer, had built Grand Paradi's iconic three towers and 14 row houses four decades ago.

The HC set aside orders passed by a deputy registrar and cooperation minister, which had last year barred the managing committee from continuing its term, their re-election and had brought in an administrator over the society.

Sachin Sheth and nine other residents had moved the HC against the minister's order. The HC held that the administrator was appointed in a complaint pertaining to a dispute that had already "achieved quietus'' through "an amicable settlement''.

The issue concerned excessive transfer fee charges sought by the society from new members. The society was charging transfer charges from new purchasers of flats before admitting them as members. In 2016, Rikav and Rushabh Shah had applied for new membership and permission to renovate their flat without paying transfer charges. The managing committee declined permission. The dispute was eventually resolved amicably.

Justice S C Gupte observed that the dispute's "genesis" was an application filed by the five members for disqualification of the erstwhile managing committee of Grand Paradi alleging that members were being charged excessive transfer fees, as high as Rs 34 lakh in some cases. On this complaint, the deputy registrar had disqualified 10 members as managing committee members in December 2016. Though a divisional joint registrar set aside the disqualification order, in revision, on December 6, 2017, minister Subhash Deshmukh, as a revisional authority, restored the deputy registrar's order.

Counsel for Grand Paradi society, Biren Saraf said that the society has last May recalled its 2015 general body resolution regarding transfer fees. Vineet Naik, counsel for the complainants, said, "The Shahs had asked police to pursue the criminal case last August, the withdrawal was under duress."