HC pulls up CIDCO for withholding OC to housing society

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra) to pay a cost of ₹50,000 to a Kharghar-based co-operative housing society for withholding an occupancy certificate (OC)” to it for almost six years.

The court called it “a gross case of glaringly unreasonable and arbitrary approach” as although the construction of the building was completed in July 2018, the occupancy certificate was yet to be granted to 18 members of the Dolphin Co-operative Housing Society.

The society, which initially consisted of 17 members, obtained an allotment letter and construction permission from CIDCO for 18 housing units in 2001, and was later granted a commencement certificate in 2016. It subsequently applied in 2017 and 2018 for addition of another member to the society and issuance of an occupancy certificate but the applications did not elicit any response.

The society then approached the state minister for housing, who requested the CIDCO’s chairman and managing director to consider the society’s case for enrolling an additional member. To this, an estate officer of CIDCO responded that there was no provision for addition of members under the New Bombay Disposal of Lands Act.

The housing society wrote again to CIDCO on January 4, 2021, pointing out that because of the lack of an occupancy certificate, they had been deprived of their legitimate entitlement to occupy their tenements and were being forced to live in rented premises while paying monthly instalments on the loan availed by them for the construction of the units.

On January 5, 2021, CIDCO’s associate planner refused the occupancy certificate to the housing society on the grounds that the “final number of members” for allotted plots from the estate section was not furnished by the society.

The court took note of this and observed that merely for the inability to accept an additional member, the entire occupancy of the building was being held up.

It also observed that the rejection of the grant of occupancy on the grounds that the estate NOC (No Objection Certificate) for 18 units was not submitted by the society was wholly illegal, as the NOC was not being granted purely for reason of an arbitrary and deliberate inaction on part of the CIDCO estate officer.

Condemning the unreasonable action, the court directed CIDCO to issue an occupation certificate to the housing society within one week and directed the concerned officers, including CIDCO’s managing director, to collectively pay a cost of ₹50,000 to the society within two weeks.