MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has reinstated the registration certificate of a housing society federation, stating that the decision to deregister it was legally “unsustainable.”
Justice Amit Borkar emphasized, “Judicial discretion cannot be exercised to reward falsehood,” noting that the deregistration occurred following a seven-year delay, with the appeal based on evidently false claims without credible evidence.
The Federation of Cooperative Housing Societies from Borivli West challenged an April 2025 order by the divisional joint registrar of Cooperative Societies, which annulled its status as a ‘Cooperative Society’—a designation granted in January 2018 under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act. The petition argued that the registrars “arbitrarily exercised discretion by condoning the delay without any proof of diligence.”
In 2025, CHS Ltd. filed an appeal against this registration, claiming ignorance of the federation’s status until recently. However, the Federation provided evidence—a letter from CHS that indicated prior knowledge of its membership status without insisting on certain contributions.
The court heard arguments from various counsels, asserting that suppressing facts negates any claim to advantage from one’s own falsehoods. The HC reiterated that discretion must be exercised judiciously based on truthful evidence; thus, if the basis for the delay was found to be false, the delay could not be legally condoned.
Panickar argued for an alternate revision plea for the Federation, but the HC rejected this notion, emphasizing that the Supreme Court has ruled that delay applications based on false reasons cannot be condoned. “The law protects only those who approach authorities with clean hands,” stated Justice Borkar, affirming that the petitioner was not required to pursue a revision remedy in this instance.
The HC ultimately quashed the order dated April 30, 2025, and restored the federation’s registration from January 24, 2018.
