D.S.KUNDU Vs. REGISTRAR, CO-OP SOCIEITIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of direction or order in the nature of Mandamus to the respondents to not deprive and violate the fundamental right of the petitioner; to live with dignity and mental peace and not to disrupt the supply of basic needs and essential services and for uninterrupted ingress and egress to his residence in the society complex, and further to maintain rule of law.

(2.) The facts stated in brief are that the petitioner is residing in a Co-operative Group Housing Society, Dwarka, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as "Society") having 120 members. The Society is a corporate body registered under the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as "DCS Act") and has 120 members who have been allotted dwelling apartments. The day-to-day affairs of the Society are managed by respondent No.2. The petitioner claims to be a law-abiding senior citizen who has an abode in the Society and is suffering from constant deprivation and gross infringement of his right to enjoy the property. He has been deprived of basic services and a dedicated car parking inside the Society as part of the Group Housing Scheme under the DCS Act. In 2014, the petitioner approached the appropriate legal forum and an award was passed on 9/2/2016 directing Respondent no.2 to provide one dedicated earmarked car parking for each member of the Society and also to remove illegal occupants from the parking area under the stilt of the building. The petitioner filed an execution petition and the Executing Court passed the final order on 22/11/2016 for execution of the award. However, the directions remained on paper and were never enforced. Consequently, the petitioner approached the High Court of Delhi in November, 2019 for appropriate directions for execution of the order dtd. 22/11/2016 of the Executing Court. In compliance of the directions of the High Court of Delhi, respondent No.1 directed respondent No.2 vide its order dtd. 4/2/2020 to file a compliance report before the Executing Court. However, on account of the prevailing COVID situation, the process got halted. The respondent No.2 issued a Notice dtd. 12/9/2020 for removing of encroachments from stilt parking area and drew a lottery for rotational allocation amongst all members of Society.

(3.) The petitioner also stated that he exposed serious financial manipulations in the records of respondent No.2 and corruption by persons adversely affected by the order under execution. He also claimed to have sought an inquiry into the financial affairs of respondent No.2 which has made the petitioner another score settling goal post for the purported offenders. According to the petitioner, as a consequence of execution of the Award and initiation of the process of inspection of financial records of respondent No.2, those persons who were adversely affected by the execution of the Award dtd. 9/2/2016 and the inspection of the financial records of respondent No.2, threatened the petitioner and his family with dire consequences. It is claimed that the essential services like electricity, sanitation, cleaning, sweeping, collection of garbage, security etc. have been made dysfunctional by the respondent No.2 using coercive methods knowing fully well that it was its mandatory duty to provide uninterrupted essential services to the petitioner. The ingress and egress to his own residential abode has been obstructed and denied, parking of his car in the dedicated car parking area under his exclusive possession has been obstructed, trespassed, and blocked by respondent No.2 and his agents. Despite representations no action has been taken by the respondents. It is further claimed by the petitioner that his family has been kept illegally confined, restrained and captivated by coercive means to force the petitioner to succumb to the illegal demands of respondent No.2 and his agents to not press for the execution of the court orders and expose the corruption of the Society. He has been harassed and humiliated by the respondents whom he has been approaching for relief and redressal of his grievances. Hence, the present petition has been filed for issuing directions to the respondent to prevent the deprivation and infringement of fundamental rights of the petitioner.