Deemed Conveyance Orders Passed Before 2025 Amendment Of MOFA Remain Valid: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 23 February held that deemed conveyance orders under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963, issued prior to the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025, remain valid and cannot be reopened merely because the amendment now aligns deemed conveyance in RERA-registered projects with completion of the last building in a layout.

Dismissing a challenge by the developer, a Single Bench comprising Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh upheld a 2023 order granting proportionate land to two housing societies in a Pune residential project. The Court ruled that the validation clause in the 2025 amendment protects decisions already passed by the competent authority.

Explaining the effect of the saving clause, the Court observed:

“Section 5 of the Amendment Act, 2025 provides that any proceedings instituted including the decisions taken, orders passed or directions issued by competent authority shall be deemed to be duly and validly executed”.

The Court was considering a challenge by Mahanagar Realty, the Developer of a residential layout at Dhankawadi, Pune, comprising four wings: A, B, C, and D. While Ganga Ishanya A & B and Ganga Ishanya C had been completed and received occupancy certificates in 2018 and 2021 respectively, Ganga Nakshatra D was still under construction.

Housing societies representing the completed buildings approached the District Deputy Registrar, acting as the Competent Authority under Section 11 of MOFA, seeking unilateral deemed conveyance of the land.

By an order dated 17 November 2023, the Authority granted a proportionate land share of 11,890.53 sq. metres to the society representing Wings A and B, and 4,174.39 sq. metres to the society representing Wing C, based on the sanctioned development plan dated 2 November 2018 and the built-up area of the completed buildings.

The Developer challenged the order before the High Court by filing a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, relying on the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025, which inserted Section 11A into MOFA with retrospective effect from 1 May 2016.

The provision aligns deemed conveyance in projects registered under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) with the RERA framework, under which conveyance is ordinarily executed only after the occupancy certificate for the last building in the layout is issued.

Since Wing D was still under construction, the Developer argued that conveyance could not have been granted to the societies representing the completed buildings.

However, the Court held that the amendment itself contains a validation and saving clause under Section 5, which protects orders already passed under the earlier MOFA regime.

The Court therefore held that the deemed conveyance granted in November 2023, before the amendment came into force, remains valid. The Bench held:

“In the present case, the impugned order has been passed by the competent authority on 17th November, 2023 i.e prior to the Amendment Act of 31st December, 2025, and therefore, the impugned order is saved.”

The Developer also contended that the Competent Authority had granted a larger land portion than the societies were entitled to, and had done so without relying on an architect's certificate.

Rejecting this contention, the Court held that the Authority correctly determined the land share based on the sanctioned plan dated 2 November 2018 and the built-up area of the completed wings.

The Court further clarified that disputes over additional construction of Wing D through increased TDR or revised plans fall outside the scope of deemed conveyance proceedings and must be pursued in civil proceedings.

Accordingly, the Court found no infirmity in the order of the Competent Authority and dismissed the writ petition, while granting the Developer liberty to pursue a separate civil suit regarding its entitlement to utilize additional TDR for further construction of Wing D.

For petitioner (Mahanagar Realty): Advocates A.A. Kumbhkoni and Pankaj Das.

For respondent nos. 1 & 2 (Ganga Ishanya Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. and Ganga Ishanya 'C' Co-operative Housing Society Ltd.): Advocates Vishwajeet Sawant, Ashok Gade, Riya John, and Navin Rathod.

Appearances for respondent no. 3 (District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies / Competent Authority): AGP Pooja Patil.