Dissenting members of the Society can be thrown out if stopping redeevelopment

Cooperative court to decide fate of Khar bldg's redevelopment

Swati Deshpande TNN 

Mumbai: A cooperative court will now decide the fate of the redevelopment of abuilding in Khar and also if the housing society's few dissenting members are to be evicted. 
    A Bombay high court bench of Justice D K Deshmukh and Justice R G Ketkar has asked the dissenting members of Fardoon Apartment Cooperative Housing Society to take their battle to the cooperative court.

 The judges also held that if the dissenting members "fail to get any interim or final orders" in their favour "within six months", they will be thrown out of the building. 
    The society, comprising about 12 members, had by a majority resolution in 2008 approved of a redevelopment scheme and appointed Acknur Constructions to carry out the work. But four members objected to the "improper" resolution. The society said it had passed a resolution by a majority and had decided to evict those opposed to the plan. 
    The matter landed in the high court which, in 2009, ruled that a builder could not evict even a single dissenting member of a cooperative housing society on the basis of a development agreement with a majority of flat owners. The developer appealed against the order. During the hearing of the appeal, two dissenting members consented and the bench set aside the high court's order. The developer, Deepak Rao, was seeking the eviction of owners of two shops and one residential flat as they were "stalling the redevelopment work". 
    However, in the turn of events, the issue raised by flat owners whether a developer can directly move the high court against dissenting members has not been decided.