November 06, 2025: In a significant judgment clarifying property rights in redevelopment cases, the Bombay High Court has ruled that third-party flat buyers who book homes through a developer cannot claim ownership or possession rights once the housing society terminates its contract with that developer. Their only legal recourse, the court said, lies in seeking damages from the removed builder, not from the society or its new developer.
Justice Kamal Khata, while dismissing a petition filed by Satish and Swapna Inamdar, held that the law is “clear and consistent” on this issue. “The consistent view of this court is that purchasers claiming through a terminated developer cannot assert or enforce any rights against the Society or the newly appointed developer,” the court observed. “Their remedies, if any, are confined to claims against the erstwhile developer.”
The petitioners, a Kurla-based couple, had moved the court seeking to restrain the Nehru Nagar Vidyut Vilas Co-operative Housing Society from proceeding with demolition, revising redevelopment plans, or selling flats in the new project. The couple had purchased flats through M/s Adit Enterprises, the original developer, before the society terminated the redevelopment agreement in 2015—a decision later upheld in arbitration.
The Inamdars argued that the society, being the landowner, should be considered a promoter under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA) and hence obligated to honour their flat bookings.
Justice Khata, however, rejected the argument, citing a precedent from the Tuvin Constructions case. The court reaffirmed that neither the housing society nor the new developer can be treated as co-promoters for buyers linked to a terminated developer.
Finding no fault in the lower court’s earlier refusal to grant interim relief, the High Court dismissed the petition, reinforcing legal clarity for redevelopment disputes.
Source: Hindustan Times
