SARINA ESMERALDA LOPEZversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THRU THE GOV. PLEADER PWD BLDG.

                                                                              902-WP-3781-2026.odt


               rajshree


                                        IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                           ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
                                                  WRIT PETITION NO.3781 OF 2026


                              Sarina Esmeralda Lopez                        ....Petitioner
                                            V/S
                              State of Maharashtra                          ....Respondent


                              Ms.Sarina Lopez, Petitioner in person.
                              Mr.Milind More, Addl. GP a/w Ms.Madhura Deshmukh, AGP for
                              the State.
                              Mr.Sean Wassoodew a/w Mr.Surya Das for Respondent No.4.


                                                       CORAM : BHARATI DANGRE &
                                                               ASHISH S. CHAVAN, JJ

                                                       DATE    : 27th AUGUST 2026

                              P.C. :

                              1        The Petitioner in person, is a Member of Respondent No.3-
                              The Wahedna Cooperative Housing Society, of which Respondent
                              No.4, Neville Gomes was alleged to be the Secretary. But, we are
                              informed that for a considerable length of time, the Society was
                              under the control of the Administrator and thereafter, on the
                              elections being held the Managing Committee is in place.


                              2        On hearing the Petitioner in person, we have perused the
                              order passed under Section 79(3) of the Maharashtra Co-
           Digitally signed
RAJSHREE   by RAJSHREE
KISHOR
MORE
           KISHOR MORE
           Date:
           2026.08.29
           18:06:14 +0530
                              operative Societies Act, 1960       by the Deputy Registrar, Co-

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operative Societies, on 26/08/2016.
     The said order came to be passed since there was default in
complying with the directions issued under Section 79(1) of the
Act of 1960, as the directions issued vide letter dated
30/04/2014, for furnishing to the Petitioner, the documents
sought by her under Section 32 of the Act of 1960 was not
complied with and as the Society failed to comply with the
directions issued under Section 79(1) of the Act of 1960, and
thereby disregarded the Registrar’s order, an Authorized Officer
was appointed under Section 79(2) of the Act of 1960 and upon
following the procedure, the power under sub-section (3) of
Section 79 of the Act of 1960 was invoked directing            the
Chairman/Secretary(Respondent NO.4) of Wahedna CHS Bandra
(West) to pay a sum of Rs.100/- into the funds of the Society, for
each day of default for the period from 30/04/2014 until
compliance is made with the directions.

3    It is pointed out to us by Ms.Lopez that the said order was
upheld in an Appeal and finally put to rest by the order passed by
the learned Single Judge in WP(St) No.3134/2021, when the
challenge to the order passed by the   Divisional Joint Registrar
Co-operative Societies dated 13/05/2020 failed, as the application
for condonation of delay was not accepted and the learned Single
Judge upheld the said finding and recorded that the Authority
under the    Act was justified in rejecting the Application for
condonation of delay and Writ Petition was accordingly dismissed.
     In light of this, it is the submission of Ms.Lopez that the
order passed under Section 79(3) of the Act of 1960 has attained


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finality and it is imperative for the Chairman and Secretary of the
Society to ensure its compliance.

4    We have no doubt in our mind that if the order has attained
finality, it definitely deserve compliance. However, the Petitioner
has approached this Court with       rather a strange relief viz.
restraining any proceedings being filed under Bye-Law No.174(A).
     When we attempted to find out as to what are the
proceedings arising of, it is brought to our notice that on
14/02/2026 the Co-operative Housing Society addressed a notice
to Mr.Neville Gomes, (Respondent No.4 to the Petition) and this
notice seek deposit of his share of outgoing and charges due and
payable to the Society, and it is issued in his capacity as occupant
of Flat NO.102 of the Society and it categorically state that his
share of charges including the contribution to the maintenance
charges and the major building repairs for the building and all
other charges and penalties as decided by AGM/SGM/Registrar if
applicable, is outstanding and this amount is computed as
Rs.5,22,990/- as on 13/02/2025.
     The notice is accompanied with last three bills for perusal
of the noticee and we find that these are charges payable towards
maintenance and vehicle parking charges alongwith penalty
imposed for its delayed payment.
     The notice is qua the amount due and payable by
Respondent No.4 in his personal capacity as a Member of the
Society and   has nothing to do with the liability that has been
fastened upon him as a Secretary of the Society, in the wake of
the order passed by the Deputy Registrar on 26/08/2016 by


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invoking sub-section (3) of Section 79 of the Act of 1960 and we
find that the proceedings which Respondent No.4 has filed before
the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies on 23/02/2026 seek
quashing of the notice dated 14/02/2026 and a prayer is made to
direct the Society to stop levy of additional penalty on the Society
bills of the Applicant.

5     A copy of the Application is placed on record at Page 39,
and we find that while raising a grievance about the amount that
is demanded, the Applicant has categorically made a statement
that he has already paid a sum of Rs.1,92,000/- towards recovery
certificate amount and had deposited Rs.44,000/- in this Court
and paid    further amount towards penalty, but this penalty
cannot run for indefinite time.
      On perusal of the Application filed by Respondent No.4 to
the Deputy Registrar, we can only observe that if the remedy is
available to him he can invoke the same and ultimately the
Deputy Registrar of Societies will take cognizance of the
grievance. However, we must clarify that the amount which is
due and payable by him in his capacity as a Secretary of the
Society, in the wake of the exercise of the power under Section 79
of the Act of 1960 and which has attained finality is not liable for
any intervention as the order passed by the Deputy Registrar
clearly stipulated that an amount of Rs.100/- per day shall be
paid/deposited with the Society till the amount is fully realized.
      We, therefore, clarify that while the Deputy Registrar
adjudicate the application filed by Mr. Gomes (Respondent No.4)
being aggrieved by the notice dated 14/02/2026, it will not have


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any impact upon the order under Section 79(3) of the Act of
1960, which     has already attained finality.      If the amount is
already deposited with the Society, no further liability shall be
incurred by him, but if it is not so done, then the penalty as well
as other liability shall continue to be paid.
      With this clarity, Writ Petition is disposed of.



[ASHISH S. CHAVAN, J.]                     [BHARATI DANGRE, J.]




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