Bombay HC Upholds Thane Housing Society Deemed Conveyance of 929 Sq M Land
On June 27, the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition by developer Neelkanth Mansions & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, upholding a deemed conveyance of 929.84 square metres of land to the Neelkanth Greens Row House Cooperative Housing Society in Thane. Justice Sandeep Marne ruled that housing societies in large residential layouts cannot be denied proportionate land conveyance merely because a developer utilized Transferable Development Rights (TDR) in the project.
The developer had challenged an earlier order by the Competent Authority that granted the deemed conveyance of the land to the Thane-based housing society.
In its petition, the developer argued that because TDR was used in the project, a 2018 Government Resolution (GR) restricted the conveyance to only the plinth and appurtenant area, rather than a proportionate share of the land.
However, the Neelkanth Greens Row House Cooperative Housing Society countered that the TDR was utilized across the entire residential layout rather than for any single building. Therefore, the society argued that a proportionate division of the land was appropriate.
Justice Sandeep Marne rejected the developer's argument, stating that the 2018 Government Resolution should not be interpreted mechanically to deny housing societies their legitimate land rights.
The court clarified that the provision limiting conveyance to the plinth and appurtenant area was meant to be a temporary solution for cases where TDR usage caused an imbalance in land allocation among different buildings.
In this case, the court noted that the developer had distributed the TDR across the entire layout instead of loading it onto one specific building. Consequently, the society was entitled to a land conveyance proportionate to the built-up area of its building.
Justice Marne also cautioned that allowing developers to retain ownership of unconveyed land simply by using TDR would enable them to exploit future increases in the permissible Floor Space Index (FSI) at the expense of flat buyers.
Finding no error in the Competent Authority's original order, the High Court dismissed the developer's petition, concluding that the Thane society received only the land to which it was lawfully entitled.
