Bombay HC Quashes NOC For Commercial Use Of Khar Residential Flat; Says Deputy Registrar Lacked Authority
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, October 31, 2026: The Bombay High Court has pulled up a cooperative housing society’s Deputy Registrar for overstepping his authority by granting permission for commercial use of a residential flat, holding that the officer had “clearly usurped the powers and functions of the society” despite having no statutory authority to do so.
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Justice Sandeep Marne, on October 30, set aside the NOC issued by the Deputy Registrar on December 8, 2016, permitting commercial use of a flat in Surya Lok Cooperative Housing Society in Khar. The court also quashed a January 15, 2018, order of the Divisional Joint Registrar, which had upheld the decision.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the housing society challenging the permission granted to flat owners Fazal Sayed and Aafreen Sayed.
Owners Had Approached Deputy Registrar
The owners had approached the Deputy Registrar after the society refused to issue an NOC for commercial use of the premises on the ground that the building was residential. The Deputy Registrar subsequently stated that his office had no objection to the proposed use.
Questioning this action, the society said the building consisted of residential flats and that the owners had undertaken to use their premises exclusively for residential purposes.
The court observed that the Deputy Registrar had issued the NOC without even hearing the society. “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,” the court said.
It further held that the officer had “clearly usurped the powers and functions of the society” despite having no statutory authority to do so.
Registrar Had No Authority To Issue NOC
The court clarified that provisions of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, including Section 154B-27, did not empower the Registrar to issue an NOC for changing the use of a residential flat to commercial. The Registrar could intervene only in cases where a society failed to discharge a statutory obligation.
The court also noted that the owners had given an undertaking on October 25, 2016, to use the flat for residential purposes, which formed the basis for the society granting them membership.
Owners Can Approach Cooperative Court
It said that obtaining a commercial electricity connection, municipal assessment or paying stamp duty at commercial rates would not, by itself, change the sanctioned use of the premises.
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