Can’t discriminate based on food, religion, minister assails housing societies

Housing minister Jitendra Awhad tweeted on Monday, “If the owner wants to rent his flat or sell his flat, he doesn’t need NOC from the society…this is increasing hatred.”

Mumbai The state government has assailed the housing societies, which are using No-Objection certificates (NOCs) to dictate terms to flat owners regarding whom to sell or rent their apartments.

The Marathi Ekikaram Samiti (MES) is busy collating information through various sources on such high-handed tactics adopted by both the societies as well as builders (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Housing minister Jitendra Awhad tweeted on Monday, “If the owner wants to rent his flat or sell his flat, he doesn’t need NOC from the society…this is increasing hatred.”

His tweet came after the issue of housing societies using NOCs to exclude people belonging to certain religions or communities from taking up apartments, was brought to his notice. This is prevalent in the state despite the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act.

Talking to the media, Awhad said that some housing societies are promoting the ‘ghettoisation’ culture. “These societies are creating ghettos. They are putting pressure on their members and forcing them to not sell or rent to minorities, non-vegetarians or people belonging from the backward class. They are threatening to withhold NOC if they disobey the diktat,” rued Awhad.

The Marathi Ekikaram Samiti (MES) is busy collating information through various sources on such high-handed tactics adopted by both the societies as well as builders. “We will expose these societies and bring them to book,” said MES chief Govardhan Deshmukh.

Last October, Deshmukh had filed a First information report (FIR), a first-of-its-kind against a man who had refused to sell his flat to a Maharashtrian buyer. A flat owner had posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that he wanted to sell his 1-BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) flat in a building that only allows Gujarati, Jain and Marwadi community members.

Deshmukh, who wanted to buy the flat, filed a complaint at Mira Road police over the prejudice, following which an FIR was registered against the flat owner under IPC section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

Advocate Siddharth Hattarkar, who specialises in cooperative housing society matters, said that bylaws are very clear on this front. “The ‘No Objection Certificate’ of the society is not required to transfer the shares and interest of the transferor to the transferee. However, in case such a certificate is required by the transferor or transferee, he shall apply to the society and the committee of the society may consider such application on merit, within one month,” he said.

He further added, “The society cannot force anyone to take its NOC. They have to issue it if either buyer or seller wants it. However, now the societies are dictating terms illegally.”

He also quoted Section 23 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, “No society shall, without sufficient cause, refuse admission to membership to any person duly qualified therefore under the provisions of this Act and its by-laws.’

In simpler terms, he said that a society can only refuse if the said buyer is an anti-social element, convicted in crimes or involved in terrorist activity.

This problem has its genesis from the 1980’s real estate boom when community-specific construction projects mushroomed at Parel, Lalbaug, Ghatkopar, Goregaon, Mulund, Vile Parle, Malabar Hill, Byculla, Mazagaon and Borivli. In the case of the Jain community, the builder would construct a ‘Derasar’ or a Jain temple and charge premium prices for such projects.

In the past couple of days, there have been posts on social media about how flatowners or housing societies have been announcing that the flats would be rented out only to the vegetarians. This is common in areas such as Borivali, Malad, Goregaon, Ghatkopar and Mulund apart from several pockets in central and south Mumbai where people of particular communities live in large numbers. In many cases, renting out flats to Muslims or bachelors or non-vegetarians is not preferred.