Deputy Registrar Has No Powers to Give NOC for Commercial Use of Residential Flat
Judgment dated 30.10.2026 of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No.14286 of 2018 of Surya Lok Cooperative Housing Society Ltd Vs. Deputy Registrar Cooperative Society and another
Deputy Registrar NOC for commercial use of residential flat in housing society
The Petitioner-society is aggrieved by the order dated 15 January 2018 passed by the Divisional Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Mumbai Division (Divisional Joint Registrar) dismissing its Revision Application No. 416 of 2017 and confirming the letter dated 8 December 2016 of the Deputy Registrar. By letter dated 8 December 2016, the Deputy Registrar has conveyed that his office has no objection for commercial use of the flat by Respondent No.2. Petitioner-society is opposed to commercial use of the residential flat located on ground floor of its building and has accordingly filed the present Petition. Petition challenges the ‘No Objection Certificate’ dated 8 December 2016 issued by the Deputy Registrar, which is confirmed in revision by the Divisional Joint Registrar.
It is Petitioner’s case that Respondent Nos. 2 and 2(A) converted Flat No. 3 for commercial purposes and illegally commenced commercial operations in the same. Since Petitioner-society did not grant membership to Respondent Nos.2 and 2(A), they filed application under Section 23(2) of the MCS Act before Assistant Registrar. By order dated 4 August 2016, the Deputy Registrar directed grant of membership to Respondent Nos.2 and 2(A) qua Flat No.3. According to the Petitioner, Respondent Nos.2 and 2(A) furnished undertaking to the society to use Flat No.3 for residential purposes and accordingly society granted membership to Respondent Nos.2 and 2(A). In the meantime, Respondent Nos.2 and 2(A) commenced proceedings for conversion of use of Flat No.3 from residential to commercial use by filing proposal before the Municipal Corporation. Since the Municipal Corporation required society’s NOC, which it was not willing to grant the same, they approached the office of the Deputy Registrar who has issued the impugned NOC dated 8 December 2016 communicating that his office does not have objection for commercial use of Flat No.3. Aggrieved by NOC dated 8 December 2016, Petitioner-society filed Revision Application No. 416 of 2017 before the Divisional Joint Registrar. However, society’s revision is dismissed by order dated 15 January 2018. Petitioner-society has accordingly filed the present petition challenging the decisions of the Deputy Registrar and the Divisional Joint Registrar.
In my view, therefore the impugned NOC issued by the Deputy Registrar on 8 December 2016 is wholly without jurisdiction. The Deputy Registrar is not invested with the power of directly issuing NOC permitting particular use of the premises in the building of the society when provisions of the MCS Act, rules made thereunder or bye-laws of the society do not obligate the society to issue such NOC.
It is unfathomable that Deputy Registrar sitting in his office grants NOC for particular use of the premises without even bothering to hear the society or verifying whether there are any commercial premises in the building of the society or not. The Deputy Registrar has clearly usurped the powers and functions of the society by issuing the NOC himself, despite having no statutory authority to do so. In such circumstances, the impugned NOC issued by the Deputy Registrar deserves to be set aside as being completely arbitrary and ab-initio void.
