Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960

The appellants, tenant members of a housing co‑operative society, filed suits in the Bombay High Court seeking declaration that a resolution to sell society land and the subsequent conveyance to third parties were illegal and void. The respondents argued that the suits were barred by Sections 91 and 163 of the Maharash…

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (East‑I) challenged two notices issued by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) under Section 299 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, seeking possession of land that formed part of the regular street line. The appellant argued that the notices were invalid because no prior san…

The appellant, a shareholder and former director of Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank, filed FIR No. 806 of 2019 alleging financial fraud by the bank's chief executive and former chairperson based on a forensic audit report. The Bombay High Court quashed the FIR, holding that Section 81(5B) of the Maharashtra Co-operative S…

The plaintiffs, Margret Almeida & Ors., filed two suits against the Bombay Catholic Co-operative Housing Society Ltd., which the trial judge held maintainable and granted an interim order of status quo. The Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, relying on Section 91 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 196…

The appellants complained that the Karkhana sugar factory had enrolled 6,617 persons who did not meet the eligibility criteria under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. After the Commissioner of Sugar failed to act, a writ petition led to an inquiry by the Regional Joint Director, who confirmed the inelig…

The Goa State Cooperative Bank Ltd., appointed as liquidator of the Goa State Cooperative Fisheries Federation Ltd., filed 156 recovery suits against defaulting members for loans advanced by the Society. While many of these suits were stayed pending appeals, the Society’s winding‑up was deemed terminated after the six‑…

The appellant, a Mahila cooperative society, challenged the award of a contract for supplying fortified blended food under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, arguing that the eligibility criteria in the Expression of Interest (EOI) were arbitrary and that the contract period should be limited to one year. The Hig…

The borrower, a director of Vaishnavi Hatcheries, defaulted on loans from two cooperative banks and mortgaged four properties. After a recovery certificate was issued, the appellant bank conducted a public auction, issuing a sale certificate and deed in favour of the highest bidder. The borrower failed to apply within …

The case concerned a slum rehabilitation project in Lower Parel, Mumbai, where a developer and a minority group of hutment dwellers (Sayunkta Sangharsh Samiti) entered into a private Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to allocate flats in towers D, E and F exclusively to the society members, bypassing the Slum Rehabilit…

The Supreme Court examined whether receipts such as non‑occupancy charges, transfer charges and common‑amenity‑fund contributions received by a premises cooperative society from its members are taxable as business income or exempt under the doctrine of mutuality. The Court held that the doctrine of mutuality, based on …

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) initially resolved in 1997 to allot 13,700 sq.mtr of land to a proposed co‑operative housing society of its employees, but the allotment lapsed because the society failed to fulfil the conditions. In 2003 the Authority, relying on a 1999 Government of Maharas…

Petitioner Pratibha Ramesh Patel filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the constitutionality of sections 2, 12 and 15(a) of the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, which incorporated cooperative societies within the SARFAESI regime. The sam…

The respondents entered into an agreement to sell land to the appellants and paid Rs 10,000 as earnest money, but the appellants failed to execute the sale deed. The respondents sued for specific performance and, alternatively, for refund of the earnest money. The trial court awarded only the refund, while the first ap…

Kalabharati Advertising, an advertising hoarding firm, had obtained permission from a society and the Municipal Corporation to erect a hoarding in Mumbai. A public interest litigation led the High Court to form a committee that found the hoarding violated certain guidelines, prompting the corporation to issue orders su…

The appellants, Shashin Patel and Bhavini Patel, heirs of the original occupier of Flat No.7 in Malboro House Co‑operative Housing Society, sought admission as members of the Society by paying the required contribution many years after the Society’s formation. Their application was initially rejected by the Society’s A…

The Maharashtra State Co‑operative Bank Ltd. (the Bank) took possession of mortgaged property of Vainganga Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. (the Karkhana) after the Karkhana defaulted on a loan and later sold the property to Wainganga Sugar and Power Ltd. The Karkhana’s employees obtained a recovery certificate under the …

The Maharashtra cooperative society, engaged in sugar production, sought to delete about 2,000 members under Section 11 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, alleging they did not meet the bye‑law eligibility criteria. The Regional Joint Director (Sugar) issued an omnibus show‑cause notice and, without i…

The case concerned the rehabilitation of about 800 slum dwellers in Mumbai who owned the land through a cooperative society. Susme Builders (the appellant) and J.G. Developers (respondent No.4) each claimed to have the consent of at least 70% of the eligible slum dwellers required under the Development Control Regulati…

The petitioners sought an interim order declaring that the acquisition of a "cessed" building by MHADA under Chapter VIII‑A of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976 was no longer necessary, as the landlord and tenants had entered into a development agreement while the substantive constitutional challen…

The plaintiff, a member of a cooperative society, obtained a loan from the society and created a charge on his ancestral agricultural land. He later sold the land to his nephew/son‑in‑law (defendant 1) on 2 Nov 1971 without repaying the loan or obtaining the society’s consent, and defendant 1 subsequently sold part of …

The appellant society applied to register as a new Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Society (PACCS) but the Scrutiny Committee rejected the application on grounds of lack of financial viability and failure to meet statutory criteria. The State of Maharashtra, exercising its discretion under the Maharashtra Co-o…