Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has cleared the way for three Vile Parle housing societies to obtain deemed conveyance of their land, while trimming the area to be transferred and rejecting the developer's attempt to delay the process on the ground of possible future development rights.
Justice Sandeep Marne on June 18 partly allowed a petition filed by Kiran Builders Pvt Ltd and directed the competent authority to issue a fresh unilateral deemed conveyance certificate in favour of Kalpita Enclave Co-operative Housing Society Ltd and two other societies for 16,584.55 square metres of land within three months.
The dispute relates to Kalpita Enclave, where the developer had constructed buildings A to H, J and K, followed by buildings L and M. The three co-operative housing societies jointly sought deemed conveyance under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA).
The developer challenged a 2017 order granting deemed conveyance of the entire 21,736 square metres, arguing that an earlier City Civil Court decree had restricted conveyance to land appurtenant to buildings A to H, J and K. It also claimed rights over portions of land reserved for a DP road, municipal market and primary school, and contended that it still intended to construct two additional buildings, N and P.
Rejecting these objections, the court held that the earlier decree did not bar the societies from jointly seeking deemed conveyance under MOFA.
“It is always open for a party to withdraw a conveyance suit and file an application for deemed conveyance,” Justice Marne observed, adding that the legislation provides “a quicker and swifter remedy” to housing societies seeking transfer of title.
The court also ruled that the developer could not indefinitely postpone conveyance by relying on the possibility of future development rights.
“Developer cannot claim that he can continuously exploit the building potential for eternity without conveying the land in favour of the Society,” the judge said.
However, the court found that the competent authority had erred in granting conveyance of the entire land parcel. It accepted the societies' proposal to exclude portions already surrendered for a DP road, reserved for a municipal market and primary school, acquired for road widening, and affected by slum encroachments.
The 2017 conveyance certificate was accordingly set aside and the matter remanded for issuance of a fresh certificate for 16,584.55 square metres. The parties have been directed to appear before the competent authority on June 24, 2026.
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