The court affirmed the petitioner’s entitlement to flat possession based on genuine membership transfer, overriding challenges related to past residency requirements.

J U D G M E N T

TUSHAR RAO GEDELA, J.

1. Present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction to the respondent no.1/Registrar, Co-operative Societies (for short ‘RCS’) to complete the formalities for possession of “A” type flat to the petitioner and a direction to the Signature Not Ve rified Digitally Signed respondent no.l/RCS and respondent no.3/Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to deliver physical possession of Flat No.570/A-432 to the petitioner.

2. The facts, shorn of unnecessary details and germane to the issue at hand, are as under:-

a) It is the case of the petitioner that his mother namely Mrs. Kanwar Dassani enrolled as a member in the respondent no.2/Society sometime in the year 1986. It is also claimed that the membership of the said society was transferred in the name of the petitioner on 19th June, 1991. It is stated that on 24th June, 1991, an allotment letter was issued in favour of the petitioner entitling him for ‘A’ category flat.

b) The respondent no.1/RCS appears to have issued a Circular dated 16th December, 1992 whereby the requirement of proof of residence in Delhi of an individual seeking membership of a Cooperative Society, was dispensed with. It also appears that the said stipulation was reiterated by respondent no.1 on 24th February, 1994 whereby the Cooperative Societies were also directed to amend their bye-laws accordingly.

c) The respondent no.1/RCS reintroduced the pre-condition of three years’ residence in Delhi as a necessary eligibility condition for an individual to seek membership in a Cooperative Society vide notification dated 22nd April, 1997 and reiterated in the Circulars dated 3rd January, 2001 and 5th December, 2001. However, vide Signature Not Ve rified Digitally Signed judgment dated 29th April, 2022 in the case of T.N. Haokip vs. Registrar, Co-operative Societies & Ors., 2022 SCC OnLine Del 1360 , the said notification dated 22nd April, 1997 was held to be unenforceable on the basis that the same was never gazetted in accordance with law. On the same basis, the subsequent Circular dated 5th December, 2001 was also held to be inapplicable since it was clarificatory in nature.

d) It is stated that the respondent no.1/RCS having received complaints from the members of the respondent no.2/Society, expelled the then Managing Committee and appointed Sh. A.K. Singh as the Administrator of the Society on 10th April, 2001.

e) On certain disputes having arisen with regard to excess members having been enrolled in comparison to the numbers of plots to be allotted, certain members filed a writ petition being W.P.(C) 2098/2004 before this Court. Vide order dated 5th September, 2006, this Court endorsed the appointment of one Urmila Rani (Retd. Additional District Judge) as an Inquiry Officer to conduct inquiry into the said disputes. In the interregnum, the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act , 2003 was promulgated repealing the Act of 1973. In the year 2007, the Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules , 2007 too were enforced. The pre-condition of an individual to be a resident of NCT of Delhi prior to applying for membership was re-introduced as per sub-clause 6 of clause (1) of Rule 19 of the DCS Rules, 2007.

Signature Not Ve rified Digitally Signed f) The petitioner claimed to have filed a writ petition being W.P.(C)

3829/2007 seeking a direction to the respondents to hand over physical possession of the flat. Noticing that the previous Inquiry Officer had failed to conclude the inquiry as directed vide order dated 5th September, 2006, this Court vide order dated 23rd November, 2009, appointed one S.K. Jha, the then Joint Registrar as the Inquiry Officer to complete the said inquiry.

g) In compliance with the aforesaid direction, the Inquiry Officer filed his Report on 6th July, 2011 declaring, amongst other aspects, petitioner to be eligible for membership and allotment of “A” Category flat in the respondent no.2/Society. This Report was accepted by respon