1. Petition challenging order refusing membership of cooperative housing society — Delay and laches. (Para 3 , 4 , 5 )
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2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 20403
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, Dinesh Bhatt, JJ
Lalit Kapoor – Appellant
Versus
Registrar of Cooperative Societies – Respondent
W.P.(C) 14255/2026 | CM APPL. 66706/2026
Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: V. K. Gulati, Hemant Gulati
For the Respondents: Dhruv Rohatgi, Chandrika Sachdeva, Dhruv Kumar
For the Appellants/Petitioners: V. K. Gulati, Hemant Gulati
For the Respondents: Dhruv Rohatgi, Chandrika Sachdeva, Dhruv Kumar
A member of a cooperative society cannot be penalized for the procedural failures of the Society's Managing Committee in regularizing the membership of a predecessor, and the appropriate remedy against non-appealable orders is a revision petition under Section 116 of the DCS Act.
Headnote:(A) Cooperative Societies - Membership - Denial based on predecessor's irregular allotment - A member should not be penalized for the procedural lapses or faults of the Society's Managing Committee in regularizing the membership of the predecessor. (Para 13, 14)
(B) Procedural Remedy - Revision Petition - Where an order is not appealable, the appropriate remedy is to file a revision petition under Section 116 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 2003. (Para 15, 17)
Issues: Whether the Petitioner can be denied membership due to the failure of the Society's Managing Committee to regularize the membership of the predecessor.
Legal Category Hierarchy
- administrative law
- cooperative law
- practice and procedure
Table of Contents
2. Petitioner claims long possession and documents in his favour; RCS alleges original allotment was illegal and procedure not followed. (Para 4 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 16 )
3. Petitioner cannot be blamed for society's failure to regularise predecessor's membership; case deserves separate consideration. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 )
4. Where membership transfer is rejected due to society's procedural default, a revision petition lies under Section 116, DCS Act. (Para 15 , 17 )
5. Petition disposed of — Petitioner directed to file revision petition within one month; Financial Commissioner to decide within three months. (Para 17 , 19 , 20 )
6. What is the remedy against an order refusing membership transfer in a cooperative housing society?
A revision petition under Section 116 of the Delhi Co-operative Societies Act, 2003 lies before the Financial Commissioner. (Para 15 , 17 )
7. Can a petitioner be held liable for the managing committee's failure to comply with membership procedure?
No, the court held that a petitioner cannot be blamed for the managing committee’s fault in not regularising the predecessor’s membership. (Para 11 , 12 , 13 )
8. Is the court willing to condone delay in filing a remedial petition for a senior citizen?
Yes, the court condoned delay if the revision petition is filed within one month, given the petitioner’s age and long pursuit of approval. (Para 8 , 17 , 19 )
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
CM APPL. 66706/2026 (for exemption)
2. Allowed, subject to all just exemptions. Application is disposed of.
W.P.(C) 14255/2026
3. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, assailing the impugned order dated 2nd August, 2024 passed by the Assistant Registrar, (Section -VII /H), Registrar of Cooperative Societies (hereinafter ‘RCS’).
4. The grievance of the Petitioner is that, despite all the documents being infavourofthePetitioner,andthePetitionerbeinginpossessionofFlatNo.A- 105 (hereinafter, ‘the flat’) in the Shiv Vihar Cooperative Group Housing Society Limited (hereinafter, ‘the Society’), since 1998, his membership has not been approved by RCS.
5. A perusal of the impugned order would show that the same was passed almosttwoandhalfyearsago,andthepresentwritpetitionisgrosslydelayed.
6. Moreover, the impugned order also notes that the Society had not properly obtained approval for the original members, i.e., in the Petitioner’s case, that of Mrs. Raj Rani. The reasoning given by the RCS in respect of the original members is set out below:
“[...]However, Sh. Lalit Kappor produced a copy of registered General Power of Attorney and sell-purchase agreement executed on 27.10.1998 through which he claimed to have received ownership rights of the flat no. A-105 from Smt. Raj Rani. Subsequently, however, the discrepancies observed during scrutiny of documents of the members appearing for verification of documents including Sh. LalitKapoorwereconveyedtotheAdministratorofthe society vide this office letter dated 24.05.2023, in response to which, vide email dated 20.07.2023, the Administrator apprised that the members inducted in respect of membership numbers starting from 180 to 215 against the vacancies arising due to resignation/termination and due to sale of the flat by thethenManagementCommitteewerenotapprovedby the Office of the RCS since the procedure mentioned under Rule 19(2) of Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules 2007 werenotfollowedSimilarly,in caseof transferof share to legal heir/nominee, the procedure mentioned under Rule 29 and 30 of Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules 2007 were not followed. Further, as per available records, the name of Smt. Raj Rani was neither verified by the office of Registrar Cooperative Societies nor forwarded to DDA for allotment any flat to her in the said society i.e. Shiv Vihar CGHS Ltd. xxx xxx xxx In view of above mentioned legal position allotment of flat no. A-105 of Shiv Vihar CGHS Ltd. to Smt. Raj Rani is ab-initio illegal and any subsequent purchase of the said flat through G.P.A, as is the claim of Sh. Lalit Kapoor is plainly illegal. Besides, as per the provisions of Section 91 of DCS Act 2003 a member of a housing society who has sold his plot or flat on the power of attorney or agreement for sale or by sale deed, shall cease to be a member of that society from the date of the sale of plot or flat: Provided that the purchaser having registered power of attorney or registered agreement for sale or registered sale deed, as the case may be, in respect of such plot or flat, may apply for membership by paying transfer fee of five hundred rupees and share money and admission fee as pertheprovisionsofthebye-lawsofthesocietyandthe committee shall grant membership to the applicant within thirty days after the submission of his application. In case of refusal by the committee, the applicant may appeal to the Registrar within thirty days and the decision of the Registrar shall be final. Hence, the provisions of Section 91 of the DCS Act 2003 are not applicable in the present case as said flat no. A-105 was never duly allotted to Smt. Raj Rani herself.”
7. In terms thereof, the RCS has observed that the provisions of Section 91oftheDelhiCo-operativeSocietiesAct,2003 (hereinafter,DCSAct,2003) are not applicable as the flat was not allotted
