Society won't enrol you over a builder dispute? Silence for 3 months can make you a member

Rules as of 13 October 2026.

You hold a registered agreement for sale, the building is occupied, and the society will not enrol you because the builder says you owe money, or because you and the builder are in court. Two Bombay High Court judgments, both in 2025-26, say that is not a valid reason to keep you out, and that a society's silence has a legal cost.

Rule 1: three months of silence means you are a member

Section 22(2) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 deals with refusals. The Bombay High Court reproduced it in Brightland CHS v. Divisional Joint Registrar (31 July 2025, Justice N.J. Jamadar, WP 3466 of 2025):

• A refusal, with reasons, must be communicated "within fifteen days of the date of the decision, or within three months" from receipt of the application, whichever is earlier.
• If the society communicates no decision within three months from receipt of the application, "the applicant shall be deemed to have been" admitted as a member.
• If a question arises whether someone became a deemed member, the Registrar decides it after hearing all concerned parties.

The court noted that the Legislature changed the wording from "refused admission" to "admitted" by Maharashtra Act 20 of 1986, which places the risk of silence on the society (para 16). In Brightland the society received an application on 9 July 2021 and decided nothing for over three years, so deemed membership operated.

Worked example (illustrative)

You hand in the membership application on 1 December 2026 and get an acknowledgement. If the society has not communicated a decision by about 1 March 2027, you are a deemed member under section 22(2). You would then ask the Registrar to record it, because the statute leaves the question of deemed membership to the Registrar. Keep proof of the date the society received the application: it is the starting point of the three months.

The society also argued that the application was not in the prescribed form. The court found it was in Form No. 33 under the society's by-law 38(e)(ii) and rejected the objection (para 23). Use the form your society's bye-laws prescribe, and keep a copy.

Rule 2: a builder's payment claim is a civil matter

In Digant Parekh (HUF) v. Akruti Kailash Construction (Writ Petition 13583 of 2025, 16 January 2026, Justice Amit Borkar) the buyers had a registered MOFA agreement of 16 September 2013 for a flat in a Mumbai society. The builders filed a civil suit in 2016 to enforce the agreement. The buyer applied for membership on 29 November 2021, got no reasons, and obtained a deemed-membership order on 18 August 2022. The Divisional Joint Registrar set that aside on 25 November 2024, mainly because the suit was pending. The High Court quashed that revision order and restored the membership.

The court's points, as recorded in the judgment:

• A registered Form No. 5 agreement gives the buyer standing to join a society, and an unpaid balance does not change that status.
• "Law does not allow the developer to use unpaid dues as a weapon to block the purchaser from entering the society" (para 26).
• A pending civil suit does not automatically stop the society or the Registrar from acting (para 30). Membership is a provisional recognition, not a decision on title. The Registrar may confer it subject to the suit's outcome.
• The builder's suit continues. The judgment says the suit proceeds independently of its observations.

The builders went to the Supreme Court. On 23 February 2026 it dismissed their special leave petition (SLP(C) 7245/2026) as not fit to be entertained, and said the dismissal does not affect the decision in the pending suit.

What this does not mean

Situation	Position
Builder says you owe him money	A civil claim; the builder can pursue it, but it is not a ground to refuse membership
Court has passed a restraining order on membership	A press report on Digant Parekh says the Registrar should hold back only where a civil court has passed a restraining order. I did not find that line in the judgment text I read, so check with an advocate
Society's own unpaid dues on the flat	Different. Section 154B-7 makes a transfer ineffective unless the society's dues are paid (Brightland, para 26), though genuinely disputed dues must be determined, and a bare claim of dues is not enough to refuse (paras 29-30, 37)
No registered agreement	Not covered by these judgments; take advice

In Brightland the court left open whether the auction purchasers were liable for dues from before their purchase (para 41(iii)), so do not read it as wiping out old dues. The society could still recover proven dues through proper proceedings.

What it costs in time

These cases show how slow the road is. In Digant Parekh the application was filed in November 2021, the deemed-membership order came in August 2022, the revision succeeded in November 2024 and the High Court restored the order in January 2026. That is about four years and two months from application to a final High Court word. Deemed membership gives you a right, not a quick one.

Checklist

• Apply in the prescribed form and keep an acknowledgement with the date
• Diary the three-month date and write to the society before it lapses
• Collect your registered agreement, society share details and any builder correspondence
• If the society sits silent, approach the Registrar for a deemed-membership order
• Do not stop paying society charges once you are in occupation

This explains court rulings and is not legal advice. Take an advocate's view on your papers.