Full Judgment Text
CA Nos.7652-7653 of 2019 arising out of SLP(C)Nos.29516-29517 of 2016
Shivkishan vs. Sujata Tarachand Makhija and ors.
1
Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NOS.7652-7653 OF 2019
(Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos.29516-29517 of 2016)
SHIVKISHAN …Appellant
VERSUS
SUJATA TARACHAND MAKHIJA AND ORS. …Respondents
J U D G M E N T
Uday Umesh Lalit, J.
1. Leave granted.
1
2. These appeals challenge the decisions of the High Court , namely,
(i) Judgment and Final Order dated 21.09.2015 passed in Writ Petition
No.1460 of 2006 and; (ii) Final Order dated 01.08.2016 passed in
Miscellaneous Civil Application No.206 of 2016 in Writ Petition No. 1460
of 2006(D).
3. The facts leading to the filing of Dispute No.136 of 1989 under the
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
MUKESH KUMAR
Date: 2019.09.27
17:00:41 IST
Reason:
provisions of Section 91 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act,
1 High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur
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1960 (‘the Act’ for short) from which present appeal has arisen, as culled
out from the decision of the Cooperative Court are as under:-
“The opponent No.1 is a duly registered Cooperative
Housing Society having its registered office at Sneha
Nagar, Nagpur. The opponent No.2 is the then
Secretary of the opponent No.1 Society. The
disputant is an employee of Life Insurance
Corporation India and is working at Nagpur. The
employees of the Life Insurance Corporation are
admittedly the members of the opponent No.1 Society
and have a preferential claims over other members
who are not working in the L.I.C. It is alleged that
opponent No.2 being a Secretary has indulged himself
in illegal activities including misappropriation of
funds of the Society for his own use. It is also alleged
that the opponent No.2 has used to take the amounts
from the members of the Society in cash and used to
misappropriate the same as alleged in para – 1 & 2 of
the dispute. It is further stated that as per policy of
the Society, the senior members shall have
preferential claim in the matter of allotment of plots
of the Society. The disputant with an intention to get
the allotment of plot in the Society, paid certain
amounts on dated 5-11-1981 vide receipt No.334 on
dated 9-9-1983; and accordingly, the Society assured
the disputant that he shall be allotted the plot
admeasuring 3000 Sq. Ft. in the Layout in Kh.
No.152/3 of Mouja Sornalwada on dated 18-12-1988,
disputant submitted her application for the
membership/allotment of shares with the Form – ‘E’
& ‘I’ to the Secretary of the society. In the: said
meeting, she was allowed to give her choice for
allotment of plot to her, as per the seniority list, then
prepared on dated 15-12-1988, wherein her name
appears at Sr. No.5. On the same day, the disputant
also deposited an amount of Rs.105/- as per demand
of the society. But neither receipt of the said amount
was issued to her nor society has communicated any
decision within 3 months from the date of receipt of
her application for membership, and hence, she
deemed to be a member of the opponent No.1
Society; and as such, she is entitled to claim a plot in
dispute. It is further alleged that the plot No 2 has
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been wrongly allotted to the opponent No.3, who
claims to be a member of opponent No.1 Society. It is
also stated that disputant is a senior member to the
opponent No.3. However, the society has illegally
executed the sale deed of the said plot on dt. 25-10-
1989 in favour of opponent No.3, who is not eligible
to claim the said plot. In view of this, it is stated that
the allotment of plot in dispute to the opponent No.3
by society vide Resolution No.5 passed in A.G.M. in
dated 25-3-1990, is illegal and required to be quashed
and set aside, as alleged in Para 5 (a) & (b) of the
dispute. It is also stated that the disputant deposited
the amount of Rs.3,000/- on dt. 5-11-1981, vide
receipt No.334, Rs.4,750/- as per letter of the society
dt. 9-9-1983 by cheque No.105998, dt, in 19-8-83;
Rs.2500/- as per letter of opponent No.2 dt.16-10-
1987; Rs.3000/- by self cheque No.503079, dt. 17-9-
87: Rs.5000/- as per letter dt. 14-10-88 Rs.105/- or on
dt.18-12-88. Thus, it is stated that the disputant has
paid in all total amount of Rs.18,355/- to the opponent
No.1 society from time to time as alleged and sated in
para – 5[c] of the dispute. It is further alleged that in
the meeting dt. 18-12-1988, the Secretary has allotted
the plots according to his own choice to various
members of the society excluding plot Nos.1 & 2
along with other plots. It is further stated that the
disputant, being a senior member is entitled to claim
plot No plot No plot 2 in the said layout. In spite of
this, the opponent Society illegally not allotted the
said plot to her and hence, she issued a notice through
Advocate on dt. 23-12-1988 to the opponents calling
upon them to allot the plot No.2 and execute the sale
deed for the same. However, till filing of the dispute,
the disputant did nether receive any reply to the said
notice nor any positive action by the society as
alleged in para 6 to 10 of the dispute and hence,
disputant constrained to file this dispute.”
4. The Disputant namely the first Respondent herein thus alleged that
Plot No.2 was illegally allotted to the Opponent No.3 (the Appellant
herein) and prayed that the Resolution No.5 dated 25.03.1990 as well as
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the sale deed dated 25.10.1989 executed in favour of the Appellant be set
aside. It was submitted:-
a) The Disputant, an employee of Life Insurance Corporation
of India had been paying amounts as stated above to the Society in
the capacity of a Member.
b) She had deposited an amount of Rs.18,355/- from time to
time till the Lay-out was approved on 01.12.1988.
c) In the meeting held on 18.12.1988 she had submitted her
application for membership/allotment of shares in Forms ‘E’ & ‘I’,
had deposited a sum of Rs.105/- as demanded by the Society and
had opted for said Plot No.2.
d) Though, in terms of seniority, she was entitled to be allotted
Plot No.2, the Secretary of the Society had allotted said Plot
wrongly and illegally to the Appellant.
She claimed following reliefs:-
“(b) direct the opponents to allot Plot No.2 to
the disputant in scheme No.2 at Khasra No.
152/3 of Mouza-Somalwada, Nagpur and further
execute the sale deed in respect of the said plot
in favour of the disputant and hand over the
possession of the said plot to the disputant.
(c) prohibit the opponents permanently from
allotting Plot No.2 in Scheme No.2 at Khasra
No.152/3 of Mouza – Somalwada, Nagpur or
dealing with the same in any manner with any
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other person that the disputant, either themselves
or through their servants, agents, attorneys etc.”
5. According to the record, an interim order was passed on
25.04.1989 by the Cooperative Court at Nagpur in said Dispute injuncting
the Society from making any allotment in respect of Plot No.2. However,
despite such interim order, a registered sale deed was executed by the
Society in favour of the Appellant in respect of said Plot on 25.10.1989.
Later, in the General Body Meeting of the Society held on 25.03.1990 the
allotment of Plot No.2 and the execution of sale deed in favour of the
Appellant was confirmed vide Resolution dated 25.03.1990.
6. Thereafter, by way of amendment paragraphs 5(a), (b) and (c) were
inserted in the Dispute Application and it was prayed that the Resolution
dated 25.03.1990 and the sale deed dated 25.10.1989 be quashed and set
aside. Said paragraphs 5(a), (b) and (c) were:-
“5.(a) In the meeting of the Society held on 18-12-
1988 at Jagat Restaurant, the disputant submitted her
application for membership/allotment of shares with
Form “E” and “I” to the Secretary of the Society,
thereafter she was allowed to give her choice for
allotment of plot to her as per the seniority list then
prepared on 18-12-1988 wherein her name appears at
Sr. No.5. Disputant also deposited an amount of
Rs.105/- on 18-12-1988 as demanded by the Society.
However, no receipt was then issued to her. That the
opponent No.1 Society has not communicated any
decision to the disputant within three months from the
date of receipt of her application for membership
submitted by her on 18-12-1988 and as such she has
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become deemed member of the opponent No.1
Society and as such she is entitled to claim the plot in
dispute.
5.(b) Plot No.2 has been wrongly allotted to opponent
No.3 who claims to be member of opponent No.1
society by respondent on dt. 25-3-1990 passed by the
A.G.M. of the opponent No.1 Society superseding the
claim of the disputant for the said plot being senior to
him. It is now learnt that the Society has also
executed sale deed on 25-10-1989 of the said plot in
favour of opponent No.3 who is not eligible to claim
the said plot. However, the date on which the said
sale deed was executed is not disclosed by the present
Secretary and President of opponent No.3 by the
opponent No.1 Society vide Resolution No.5 dated
25-03-1990 passed by the Annual General Meeting of
the Society, be declared illegal and it be quashed and
set aside. Similarly, the sale deed of the said plot,
executed on 25-10-1989 by the opponent No.1
Society in favour of the opponent No.3 be also
declared illegal and it be quashed and set aside with
direction to the opponent No.1 Society to allot the
said plot to the disputant and execute proper transfer
deed by way of sale deed and/or lease deed in her
favour and opponent No.1 and 2 be directed to deliver
vacant possession of the said plot to the disputant.
5.(c) That the disputant deposited an amount of
Rs.3000/- on 5-11-1981 vide receipt No.334. That the
th
disputant received letter dated 9 Sept., 1983 from the
Secretary of opponent No.1 Society asking her to pay
Rs.4750/- within 20 days. This amount was termed as
balance amount. Accordingly, the disputant paid
Rs.4750/- to the opponent No.1 Society by cheque
No.105998 dt. 19-9-1983 drawn on Central Bank of
India, Kingsway Br. Nagpur, within a stipulated time
limit, and the said cheque had been encashed by the
society on 6-12-1983. However, no receipt was
issued by the Society for the said payment received by
it from the disputant. That the disputant received
letter dt. 16-10-1987 from Shri N.H. Deshpande,
Secretary of opponent No.1 Society, asking her to pay
an amount of Rs.2500/- within a week. This payment
was specified as dues – 1) N.A taxes, 2) Registration
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charges, 3) Membership fee and 4) Other
miscellaneous expenses. Accordingly, the disputant
paid Rs.2500/- in cash to opponent No.2 as Secretary
of opponent No.1 society within one week of the
receipt of the said amount recovered by him till this
dated. The disputant further paid an amount of
Rs.3000/- to the opponent No.2 as Secretary of
opponent No.1 Society, by self cheque No.503079
dt.17-9-1987 drawn on Central Bank of India, Branch,
Nagpur. The said cheque was encashed by opponent
No.2 and has received the said amount from the Bank,
However, no receipt is issued till this dated for the
said payment made by the disputant. Disputant
further received letters dated 14-10-1988 followed by
letter dated 29-10-1988 from Secretary of the
opponent No.1 Society asking her to pay Rs.5000/- as
development charges to N.I.T. Disputant paid an
amount of Rs.5000/- as opponent No.2 by an
intermediatory by withdrawing amount of self cheque
No.0738632 dt. 26-10-1988 drawn on Canara Bank,
Ramdaspeth, Nagpur. However, no receipt is issued
by opponent No.2 for the said payment received by
him. Similarly disputant paid an amount of Rs.105/-
to the opponent No.1 Society in the meeting held on
18-12-1988 at Jagat Restaurant, Nagpur. No receipt
for this payment was also issued to the disputant has
paid an amount of Rs.18355/- to the opponent No.1
society under specified heads, as and when demanded
by the society, from time to time, an amount of
Rs.3000/- was refunded by the Secretary by Cheque
No.7674 drawn on Nagari Sahakari Bank, Nagpur and
cashed on 22-03-1982. Inference drawn in
preliminary objection with regard to this refund, by
the Secretary on 18-01-1989 in this Court, are neither
valid nor correct.”
7. In the written statement dated 03.05.1991 filed on behalf of the
Society, it was asserted that the husband of the Disputant was the original
depositor; that the Disputant had initially made a deposit of Rs.3,000/-
which was withdrawn subsequently and as such, she had ceased to be a
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depositor; that she had attended the meeting dated 18.12.1988 not in her
own capacity but as representative of her husband. It was asserted:-
“As is already submitted by the opponent in the
forgoing para, husband of the disputant is the
Depositor of the opponent society and as such the
disputant was allowed to attend the said meeting as a
representative of her husband and not as a member.
As such the disputant does not acquire any right in the
affairs of the society by virtue of mere attendance in
the meeting held on 18-12-1988. It is specifically
denied that the disputant submitted an application for
membership or allotment of shares with Form-E and I
to the then Secretary of the Society the opponent
No.2. It is stoutly denied that the disputant deposited
an amount of Rs.105/- to the society towards
membership. It is further submitted that as on the
date of the said meeting the disputant had already
ceased to the member of the society and as such she
had no right to give her choice for the allotment of
plots. The alleged choice by the disputant was on
behalf of her husband who admittedly is the depositor
of the society. It is specifically denied that the name
of the disputant appears at Serial Number 5 in the
seniority list. It is also submitted that having once
known that the disputant has ceased to a member of
the society about 6½ years prior to the meeting that
was held on 18-12-1988, the disputant is trying to
mislead to this Hon’ble Court by claiming that she
was readmitted as the member of the society by the
principle of deemed membership. At the cost of
repetition, it is denied that the disputant deposited an
amount of Rs.105/- to the society since the disputant
had not applied for membership or rather did not have
any right to apply so, the society did not communicate
anything to her. The alleged payment by the disputant
to the society was on behalf of her husband and as
such no right is carved out in favour of the disputant
as a member of the society………….
It is specifically denied that the disputant was sent a
th
letter dated 9 September, 1983 asking to pay
Rs.4750/-. It is also denied that the disputant paid an
amount of Rs.4750/- on her behalf. It is submitted
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that the said transaction was between the husband of
the disputant and the opponent Society and the
disputant has no business with the said transactions.
It is further submitted that the accounts of the
opponent Society are audited upto dated and all
receipts had been passed from time to time which fact
is cleared from the audited accounts.”
8. Mr. N.H. Deshpande, the then Secretary of the Society also filed
his written statement on 06.10.1994 stating inter alia:-
“It is submitted that disputant preferred to withdraw
her membership of the Society. The Society refunded
her membership fees and deposit to the disputant vide
Cheque No.7678 for Rs.3,000/- drawn on Nagpur
Mahila Nagrik Sahakari Bank. The said cheque was
encashed by the disputant on 22.3.1982. As such the
disputant ceased to be the member depositor of the
opponents society and claim any plot much less to
give a preference for it. Contents of this para so far as
they relate to the matter of record are not disputed. It
is specifically denied that the disputant has preferncial
claim to get the plot No.2. It is submitted that the plot
No.2 was never allotted to the disputant as she was
not the depositor of the society when allotment was
made.”
…
It is specifically denied that the disputant submitted
an application for membership or allotment of shares
with Form-E and I to the then Secretary of the society,
the opponent No.2. It is stoutly denied that the
disputant deposited, an amount of Rs.105/- to the
society towards membership.
…
The alleged choice by the disputant was on behalf of
her husband who admittedly is the depositor of the
Society.
…
It is denied that the opponent No.1 issued letter on
9.9.1983, asking her to pay Rs.4,750/- within 20 days
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as alleged. It is denied that the disputant has
deposited the alleged amount according to the
direction of this answering opponent. It is denied that
the opponent No.2 issued a letter on 6.10.1987 to the
disputant, asking her to deposit an amount of
Rs.2,500/- within a week for the purpose of a(a) N.A.
Taxes, (b) Registration charges, (c) Membership fee
and other miscellaneous expenses as alleged. It is
specifically denied that the disputant has paid
Rs.2,500/- in case to Opponent No.2, as Secretary of
opponent No.1 Society as alleged.”
9. Said Mr. N.H. Deshpande examined himself as witness and in his
examination-in-chief stated as under:-
“As Smt. Makhija, the Plaintiff who had withdrawn
her deposit sometime in the year 1982 and hence she
did not have any right to remain present in the
meeting held on 18.12.1988, as a depositor member.
However, the Society allowed her to remain present in
the meeting as her husband’s representative. All the
depositor members had given their options for the
plots except Plot Nos.1 and 2. Smt. Makhija,
however, gave her option for Plot No.2. At that time,
the Society suggested her to give her option for any
other plot except Plot Nos.1 and 2 as per the criteria
decided earlier. However, she refused to change her
option.”
In his cross-examination the witness however stated:-
“It is true that prior to 18.12.1988, I and Plaintiff
were working together in LIC Office…
…The Plaintiff’s husband was working as a Professor
in G.S. Commerce College.
…
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“I had issued a Notice of Meeting to be held on
18.12.1988, under my signature. A copy of the said
Notice is kept at Ext.D-1. The entire matter in the
said Notice is correct. Now, I have been shown the
Ext.D-1. It is a copy of the proceedings of the
meeting dated 18.12.1988. It is correct. It is true that
only 21 plot depositors were present for this meeting.
It is also true that the Respondent No.3 was not
present for this meeting. If it is the contention that
nowhere in the Notice at Ext.D-1, it is mentioned that
choice for a plot should be given by depositors except
Plot Nos.1 and 2, the contention is correct.
…
It is true that the said three forms (Ext. O-2 and O-3)
were not given in the said meeting held on 18.12.88
by her husband.
…
If it is the contention that the Respondent No.3 had
not paid rs.105/-, vis. Rs.100/- towards cost of shares
and Rs.5/- as admission fee during the meeting on
18.12.88, the contention so made is correct. It is true
that the petitioner was present for the meeting held at
Hotel Jagat on 18.12.88. If it is the contention that
the Petitioner had filled in and signed the Share
Application Form and Forms ‘E’ and ‘I’ during the
meeting on 18.12.88, and had headed over the same to
me, the contention is correct. Similarly, if it is the
contention that the Petitioner had made payment of
Rs.105/- to the Society, the said contention is correct.
Question : On which date the allotment of the said
Plot Nos.1 and 2 was made and by whom?
Reply: I myself have allotted both these plots.
However, I do not remember the date on which the
allotment of these two plots was made ….
If it is the contention that even though the Hon. Court
had passed an order on 25.4.89 in respect of allotment
of the said Plot No.2 – placed in this suit at Exh. 5, I
have allotted the said Plot to the Respondent No.3 on
25.10.89, such contention is correct.
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… … …
Now I have been shown the Exh. D-6 which is a
Xerox copy of the letter dated 9.9.83 written by the
Society to the Plaintiff. My signature is on the
original letter. In the said letter, I have informed the
Petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.4,750/- within a
period of 20 days which is correct. If it is the
contention of the Plaintiff that the same amount was
paid to me by a cheque and that as the Witness says
the said amount was paid to me for the Society by
cheque, the said cheque was deposited in the Society’s
account which has been cleared, the contention is
correct.
… … …
I am shown Exh. D-11. It is a copy of the
proceedings of the meeting of Plot Depositors held on
18.12.88. If it is the contention that the said
proceedings do not clearly mention that the plot
depositors should given their choice for allotment of
plots other than Plot Nos.1 and 2, it is correct.”
10. After considering the record, the Cooperative Court found that the
Disputant had proved that she had paid a sum of Rs.4,750/- to the
Secretary of the Society; that she had handed over the membership
application Forms ‘E’ & ‘I’ and requisite fees to the then Secretary of the
Society in the meeting dated 18.12.1988 but the Disputant could not claim
to be the Member or deemed Member of the Society and that she was not
entitled to any relief as prayed for. However, the Cooperative Court
observed that her husband was entitled to get sale deed executed in respect
of Plot No.26 after getting all the formalities completed. The Dispute
Application was thus disposed of on 31.01.2004.
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11. The Disputant being aggrieved, filed Appeal No.11 of 2004 in the
Cooperative Appellate Court, Nagpur, under Section 97 of the Act. The
Cooperative Appellate Court considered the rival submissions and
observed:-
“(11) Admittedly the meeting of the Depositors dated
8-12-88 is the first meeting after the layout plan was
sanctioned by the NIT on 1-12-88. There is no
document to show that before 18-12-88 that some
plots were reserved for the senior members or for the
special category of the members. This being the first
meeting of the depositors it was not possible that the
plot No.2 was already allotted to some other depositor
members. When the disputant had exercised her
option for plot No.2 also it cannot be said that nobody
was interested for the plot No.2” as mentioned in the
minute of the meeting dated 18-12-88 Ex-D-11. I am,
therefore, not inclined to accept the case of the
respondent society that plot No.2 was not available
for allotment in the meeting dated 18-12-88.
(12) It is now to consider whether the disputant was
present in the meeting dated 18-12-88 on behalf of her
husband. Admittedly according to the disputant she
had submitted her application for
membership/allotment of shares with form “E” & “I”
to the secretary of the society and thereafter she was
allowed to give her choice for allotment of the plot as
per seniority list then prepared. She has also
deposited the amount for Rs.105/- on 18-12-88
required for membership. The then secretary
opponent No.2 has deposed at Ex.91 and admitted
that the disputant was present in the meeting dated 18-
12-88 and she had submitted application for
membership for herself with form “E” & “I” and had
deposited the amount of Rs.105/- for which no receipt
was given to her. He had not given the receipt to any
of the depositors who had submitted their forms for
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membership on that date. Upon this evidence the
learned trial court has held that the disputant has
proved her case that she submitted her application
along with form “I” & “E” and paid the entrance fee
Rs.5/- and share amount of Rs.100/- total Rs.105/- on
18-12-88. The findings have not been challenged by
the opponents by filing the appeal.”
12. It held that since the application for membership was given by the
Disputant on 18.12.1988 and she was not communicated any decision in
respect of her application, by virtue of Section 22 of the Act she became
deemed Member of the Society after the expiry of three months; and on the
other hand, the Appellant and certain other persons were admitted as
Members of the Society only in the meeting dated 25.03.1990; and as such,
the Disputant was a senior Member of the Society as against the Appellant
and was entitled to Plot No.2 opted by her. The Cooperative Appellate
Court thus set aside the order dated 31.01.2004 passed by the Cooperative
Court and allowed Dispute No.136 of 1989 with following directions: -
“(4) It is declared that the allotment of plot No.2 in
favour of opponent No.3 by Resolution No.5 dated
25-3-1990 passed in the Annual General Meeting of
the opponent No.1 Society and the sale deed dated 25-
10-1989 executed by the opponent No.1 in favour of
opponent No.3 in respect of plot No.2 are illegal and
hence those are quashed and set aside.
(5) The opponent No.1 society is directed to allot plot
No.2 to the disputant in scheme No.2 Khasra No.
152/3 of mouza-Somalwada, Nagpur and further
directed to execute the sale deed in respect of said
plot No.2 in favour of disputant on payment of
remaining amount of cost of the plot giving credit to
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the amount deposited by her i.e. Rs.4750/- and
handover possession of the said plot to her.”
13. The Appellant being aggrieved, approached the High Court by
filing Writ Petition No. 1460 of 2006. While affirming the findings of the
Cooperative Appellate Court, the High Court observed as under:-
“8. In the present case, it is undisputed that the
society had neither taken any decision nor had
communicated any decision to the respondent no.1
rejecting her claim for membership of the society.
Therefore, as per the deeming fiction, the respondent
No.1 became member of the society after three
months from the date of application. The respondent
No.1 undisputedly submitted her application for
th
membership on 18 December, 1988 and as the
decision was not taken by the society within three
months it is to be held that the petitioner became
th
member of the society from 18 March, 1989. The
contention of the society that the application of the
petitioner came to be rejected in the meeting held on
th
25 March, 1990 cannot be accepted as the petitioner
became member of the society much earlier and
therefore, rejection of her application seeking
th
membership, on 25 March, 1990 is inconsequential.
…
It is clear from the pleadings and the evidence on the
record that the claim of the respondent No.1 for Plot
No.2 has not been considered by the society treating
th
her to be a member of the society w.e.f. 18 March,
1989. Even if the submissions made on behalf of the
petitioner that the option given by the respondent
th
No.1 for plot No.2 on 18 December, 1988 cannot
be accepted on the ground she was not the member
of the society on that date, it goes unexplained as to
why the entitlement of the respondent No.1 for plot
No.2 has not been considered when it came to be
th
allotted to the petitioner on 25 March, 1990. The
respondent No.1 acquired the membership of the
th
society by deeming fiction on 18 March, 1989 i.e.
th
much before 25 March, 1990.
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In these facts, I find that the allotment of Plot No.2
th
in favour of the petitioner on 25 March, 1990
without considering the claim of the respondent
No.1, is illegal. The finding recorded by the
Cooperative Appellate Court in this regard are
proper.”
14. The High Court, however, found that the Disputant could not have
given option for Plot No.2 on 18.12.1988 as she was not a Member of the
Society on that date; that she acquired the membership rights on and after
18.03.1989; that allotment of Plot No.2 to the Appellant was without
following proper procedure and was done arbitrarily and that after
quashing the allotment it must be left to the Society to follow the
procedure in accordance with law for allotting Plot No.2.
15. In the premises, the operative part of the order passed by the High
Court was as under:-
“i) the impugned orders are modified.
ii) It is declared that the allotment of Plot No.2 in
favour of the petitioner is illegal.
iii) The resolution No.5 passed by the society in its
th
meeting held on 25 March, 1990 regarding the
allotment of Plot No.2 in favour of the petitioner and
the sale-deed executed by the society in favour of the
th
petitioner on 25 October, 1989 in respect of the Plot
No.2 are quashed.
iv) The claim of the respondent No.1 for allotment of
Plot No.2 as made in the dispute is rejected.
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v) It is left open for the society to consider the
allotment of plot No.2 in favour of its member,
however, it is clarified that while allotting Plot No.2
the society shall follow the same procedure as was
followed by it in the year 1988 while allotting the
other plots to its members.
The petition is partly allowed in the above terms.
In the circumstances, the parties to bear their own
costs.”
16. The aforesaid judgment and order passed by the High Court was
challenged by the Disputant by filing Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.
136 of 2016 which was dismissed by this Court on 15.01.2016 with
2
following observations :-
“We find no ground to interfere.
The special leave petition is dismissed.
However, it goes without saying that the
petitioner may avail the remedy granted by the
High Court. In the event, petitioner is aggrieved
by the order of the society, she may approach the
High Court in accordance with law. In case she
approaches the High Court, the matter will be
dealt with expeditiously.”
17. In this appeal, we heard Mr. Anupam Lal Das, learned Senior
Advocate for the Appellant, Mr. Vinay Navare, learned Senior Advocate
for the Disputant and Mr. Gagan Sanghi, learned Advocate for the Society.
2 Order dated 15.01.2016 in SLP(C)No. 136 of 2016 – Sujata Tarachand Makhija vs.
Shivkishan and Ors.
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18. It was submitted by Mr. Lal Das, learned Senior Advocate that in
the meeting held on 24.06.1984 all the depositors had submitted that none
of them was interested in two big sized plots admeasuring 5000 square
feet each and that the society could give those plots to persons other than
the depositors. The Resolution to that effect was as under:-
“(10) The depositors told that nobody among
them is interested for such big size of Plot and
the society should give it to the persons other
than us who are interested in it. Resolution to
this effect has been passed in the meeting.”
It was further submitted that (i) the husband of the Disputant was
present in the meeting but no grievance or objection was raised either in
said meeting or in subsequent meetings held on 27.08.1985, 28.09.1987
and 16.10.1988; (ii) the Disputant was not a member of the Society and
therefore could not have made any choice and opted for Plot no.2; (iii) the
Appellant was rightly inducted as member of the society and allotted Plot
No.2; (iv) though the decisions of the Society in accepting the application
of the Appellant for membership and allotment of Plot No.2 were ratified
in the General Body Meeting dated 25.03.1990, they would relate back to
18.12.1988 and the Appellant would be senior to the Disputant as member
of the Society; (v) the application of the Disputant seeking membership of
the Society in place of her husband was also rejected in said meeting dated
25.03.1990. Mr. Lal Das, learned Senior Advocate however fairly
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accepted that the Appellant was not present in the meeting dated 18.2.1988
and that neither was he invited to attend said meeting nor had he submitted
application form for membership and deposited requisite fees.
19. Mr. Vinary Navare, learned Senior Advocate for the Disputant
submitted that (i) she was the employee of Life Insurance Corporation, not
her husband; (ii) the Society was for the employees of Life Insurance
Corporation; (iii) as found by the Courts below she had paid a sum of
Rs.4750/- to the Secretary of the Society which was accepted by the then
Secretary in his deposition though it was stoutly denied in the written
statement filed earlier; (iv) she had handed over the membership
application Forms ‘E’ & ‘I’ along with requisite fees to the then Secretary
of the Society in the meeting dated 18.12.1988 which fact was also
accepted by the then Secretary; (v) as Depositor of the Society, she was
entitled to claim Plot No.2; (vi) in the meeting dated 18.12.1988 nobody
else had claimed Plot No.2 and as such she had a better claim to said Plot
as against anybody else; (vii) the Appellant was neither a Depositor nor a
member of the Society and as such could not be allotted Plot No.2
disregarding the claim of the Disputant.
20. Mr. Gagan Sanghi, learned Advocate appearing for the Society
placed the relevant record for perusal of the Court and submitted that the
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amount of Rs.4750/- which the then Secretary had accepted to have been
received from the Disputant was credited to the account of the Society.
21. At this stage, the Resolution dated 18.12.1988 passed by the
Society needs to be extracted:-
“The meeting of depositors held on 18/12/88 at 9:30 AM at
Jagat Hotel Nagpur.
The following depositors attended the meeting
(1) Shri Kelkar (2) Prayaji (3) Durani (4) Sh Kurve (5)
Bhambani (6) L.G. Deshpande (7) Joshi (8) Kashikar (9)
Shri Vaidya (10) Bhadagne (11) Patait (12) Sahu, (13)
Sonone (14) Jairaman (15) Yawalkar (16) Prayagi (17)
Nanoti (18) Arvikar (19) Smt Mishra (20) Smt Makhija on
behalf of T D Makhija (21) Pillay
The following Business transacted in meeting:
(1) Last meeting minutes confirmed.
(2) Shri Changde old member ex-Secretary presided over
the meeting.
(3) The Secretary briefed the depositors about the
developments in new layout. The Secretary requested
Shri Changde to proceed further with allotment of plot.
(4) The choice of allotment has been called for from every
st nd rd
body for 1 pref. II preference and III preference.
(5) Accordingly everybody gave the choice and as per
criteria decided earlier by depositors the plot Nos. have
been allotted to them.
(6) But Smt. Makhija who attended the meeting on behalf
of Mr. Makhija was interested in plot No.6 only. She
pleaded that even though the criteria is decided, the
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said plot No.6 must be allotted to Mr. Makhija. All the
depositors tried to convince her but in vain. Lastly she
st
gave choice under her signature for plot No.6 (1
preference) and plot No.2 second preference.
It was cleared in the meeting that the plots are being
allotted as per seniority of depositors hence plot No.6
cannot be allotted to Mr. Makhija. As plot Nos.1 and 2
were already allotted as nobody was interested in them
the question of allotment of Plot No.2 does not arise.
Finally, Mr. Changde declared the allotment as per
criteria and the number of plot before each name have
been allotted. The letter of allotment have also been
issued to them. For the absentees the plot has been
allotted as per the seniority from the available one.
(7) The allottee plot holders were asked to deposit their
share of Rs.105/- with Society to finalize their
membership.
The meeting ended with vote of thanks & dinner.
Nagpur
18/12/88
Sd/-
Secretary”
22. Before we deal with the rival submissions, an important facet of
the matter whether it was the husband or the Disputant herself who was the
Depositor of the Society needs to be considered. It is accepted that the
Disputant was an employee of Life Insurance Corporation of India and the
Society was meant principally for such employees. It was however denied
in the pleadings that she was a Depositor and it was submitted that she had
withdrawn the amount of Rs.3000/- which she had earlier deposited and
had thus lost the status of being a Depositor. The then Secretary of the
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Society, when confronted with the documents however had to accept that
he had received a sum of Rs.4750/- from the Disputant. He also accepted
that she had attended the meeting on 18.12.1988, had submitted an
application form and deposited the requisite fees. Though it was tried to
project that it was her husband who was the Depositor and the Disputant
had attended the meeting as a representative of the husband, in the face of
the admitted position that she had deposited Rs.4750/- and the findings
rendered by the Courts below, it has to be concluded that the Disputant was
a Depositor of the Society and like all other Depositors was entitled to and
had attended the meeting dated 18.12.1988 in her own right.
It is significant to note that at no stage the husband of the Disputant
claimed that he was the Depositor in his own right and entitled to allotment
of any Plot. Further, it is not the case of the Disputant and her husband
that over and above the entitlement of the Disputant, her husband is also
entitled to an additional Plot. The submission has always been that there
was only one entitlement, in exercise of which the option was given for
Plot No.2.
23. If between the husband and wife, the claim has always been only
with respect to one entitlement, it really made no difference whether the
Disputant attended the relevant meeting in her own right or as a
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representative of her husband. The fact of the matter is, an option was
exercised in favour of Plot No.2 and the issue is whether such option ought
to have been allowed and accepted or not. It may be stated here that the
communications addressed by the Society were, normally in printed format
where the name of the addressee would be written after the printed prefixes
“Mr./Mrs.” and many such communications were addressed to “Mr./Mrs.
Makhija”. The record also shows that some meetings were attended by the
Disputant while some were attended by her husband. But, considering the
facts that the Disputant was an employee of Life Insurance Corporation of
India and had deposited Rs.4,750/- as stated above, her status was clearly
that of a Depositor.
24. It is a matter of record that the Depositors had collectively raised
funds with the help of which, the consideration for purchase of the land
over which the layout was to be formed, could be arranged. All the
required and incidental expenses thus came from the funds raised by the
Depositors and to that extent the Disputant had definitely made her
contribution. The money deposited by all the Depositors including the
Disputant had thus helped the Society to have the requisite land whereafter
the Plots could be carved and allotted to the concerned members. On the
other hand, at no stage the Appellant had made any such contribution.
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25. It is accepted that the Appellant was neither present in the meeting
dated 18.12.1988 nor had he submitted any application along with requisite
fees. It is also accepted that he had not deposited anything by way of
deposit with the Society before or on 18.12.1988, with the help of which
the land could be purchased by the Society. It is true that the tenor of the
Resolution passed by the depositors on 24.06.1984 shows that no depositor
was willing to take a bigger Plot but that resolution was passed in the year
1984 and it was four years thereafter that the day had arrived for exercise
of choices or options. For the employees of Life Insurance Corporation it
may be that the Depositors at an earlier stage were not in a position to
arrange requisite funds and if the Society had to depend upon funding from
an outsider, on the strength of such resolution, the Society could have
garnered the requisite finances from an outsider. But the facts on record
disclose that no such funding from any outsider was required to arrange the
requisite finance towards consideration for purchase of land. If no outsider
had contributed in any manner there is no reason why a Plot could be
reserved for such an outsider disregarding the claim of a Depositor with
the help of whose money the Society had reached the stage where the Plots
could be allotted to the concerned. In a situation where none of the other
Depositors had even made a claim with respect to Plot No.2 and if the
Disputant had exercised such option, the Plot had to be allotted to the
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Disputant. No outsider could have had a better claim as against any
Depositor as regards to that Plot.
26. It is also a matter of record that as on 18.12.1988, the Appellant
had not even submitted his application form for membership whereas all
the Depositors including the Disputant had submitted such forms along
with requisite fees for membership. Even on this count, the claim of the
Disputant stands on a better footing as against the Appellant.
27. Further, though the Resolution dated 18.12.1988 records, “As Plot
Nos. 1 and 2 were already allotted as nobody was interested in them, the
question of allotment of Plot No.2 does not arise”, it was accepted by the
then Secretary in his cross-examination that:-
a) the Appellant had not paid any amount towards the cost of
shares of the Society and admission fee towards membership
of the Society at any time before or on 18.12.1988.
b) the notice calling the meeting dated 18.12.1988 had not
mentioned that choice to be exercised by the Depositors was
restricted to plots other than Plot Nos. 1 and 2.
It was also accepted by the learned counsel for the Appellant that
neither any invitation was received by the Appellant to attend the meeting
nor did the Appellant attend the meeting and no payment was made by the
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Appellant before 18.12.1988. No document has been produced or relied
upon to say that there was any allotment of Plot Nos.1 and 2 in favour of
anybody before the meeting was actually held on 18.12.1988.
28. In the circumstances, it must be held that the assertion so made in
the Resolution was completely incorrect and against the record. The then
Secretary accepted in his deposition that he himself had allotted these two
plots but could not give the date when such allotment was made. In any
case, it is accepted by the Appellant that no such allotment was done at any
time before 18.12.1988.
29. As on the date when the sale deed was executed on 25.10.1989 by
the Society in favour of the Appellant, there was an interim order passed
by the Cooperative Court at Nagpur on 25.04.1989 injuncting the Society
from making any allotment of Plot No.2. The then Secretary accepted in
his cross-examination that such allotment and execution of sale deed was
done in spite of the order of injunction. For persons who had clearly
violated the order of injunction, no sympathetic consideration can be
extended, nor any equity can be found in favour of such persons. It is also
apparent that the execution of the sale deed was even before the Resolution
was passed in the meeting held by the Society on 25.03.1990 regarding
allotment of Plot No.2 in favour of the Appellant.
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30. In the circumstances, the conclusions drawn by the High Court that
the allotment of Plot No.2 in favour of the Appellant was illegal and that
the Resolution passed by the Society in its meeting dated 25.03.1990 and
the sale deed executed by the Society on 25.04.1989 were required to be
quashed, are absolutely correct and fully justified.
31. As regards other conclusions drawn by the High Court, we need
not say anything as the Petition for Special Leave to Appeal filed by the
Disputant was disposed of by this Court on 15.01.2016 with the
observations as quoted hereinabove.
32. We, however, do conclude that the Disputant was a Depositor of
the Society; that she was entitled to attend the meeting dated 18.12.1988 in
her own right; that she had preferred requisite application for membership
and had paid requisite fees on 18.12.1988 itself; that she had opted for Plot
No.2 and as on that date there was nobody else apart from the Disputant
who opted for said Plot No.2.
33. These aspects of the matter shall be taken into account by the
concerned authorities while acting in terms of direction (v) issued by the
High Court which are quoted by us in para 15 hereinabove and the
allotment shall be restricted to those who had exercised their option as on
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18.12.1988 and were not otherwise allotted any plot and had not accepted
such allotment.
34. With the aforesaid directions the appeals stand dismissed. No
order as to costs.
………………………..J.
[Uday Umesh Lalit]
………………………..J.
[Vineet Saran]
New Delhi;
September 27, 2019.