NISHA SINGLA versus ADARSH COLONY COOPERATIVE HOUSE BUILDING SOCIETY LTD. & ORS.

Citation: [2019] 6 S.C.R. 121 · Decided: 16-04-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: D.Y. CHANDRACHUD · Disposal: Disposed off

Judgment (excerpt)

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NISHA SINGLA
v.
ADARSH COLONY COOPERATIVE HOUSE BUILDING
SOCIETY LTD. & ORS.
(Civil Appeal Nos. 3963-3965 of 2019)
APRIL 16, 2019
[DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD AND
HEMANT GUPTA, JJ.]
Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961: ss. 55 and 56 –
Allotment of plot – Society established to provide residential plots
to its members – Case of the appellant, a founder member of the
Society that possession of plot so allotted to her earlier by the
administrator and later re-allotted by the society have been illegally
allotted in favour of others – Held: Possession of the plot measuring
250 sq. yards has not been handed over to the appellant – Appellants
cannot be deprived of a plot allotted to her merely on the basis that
she has not made any grievance in respect of possession of the plot
allotted on the basis of technicities – Thus, in the absence of any
determination of such fact and to do complete justice in terms of
Art. 142, issuance of direction to the Registrar of Cooperative
Societies to conduct an enquiry – If such allotment is found to be
made, the appellant would be entitled to possession of the plot of
250 sq. yards – If it is found that the plot allotted to the appellant is
not available, the Registrar or its delegate to pass necessary order
to redress the grievance of the appellant – Constitution of India –
Art. 142.
Disposing of the appeals, the Court
HELD: Appellant has never raised a grievance that she
has not been delivered possession of the plot allotted but, the
facts on record, particularly on the basis of counter-affidavit of
the respondents, leaves no manner of doubt that the possession
of plot allotted to the appellant who is a founder member since
the year 1975 has not been given to the appellant. Thus, it is
found that the possession of the plot measuring 250 sq. yards
has not been handed over to the appellant as projected before
   [2019] 6 S.C.R. 121
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 6 S.C.R.
this Court. The appellants cannot be deprived of a plot allotted
to her merely on the basis that she has not made any grievance
in respect of possession of the plot allotted on the basis of
technicalities. Therefore, in the absence of any determination of
such fact and to do complete justice in terms of Article 142 of the
Constitution, it is deemed appropriate to direct the Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, Punjab to conduct an enquiry either
himself or through such officer as he may deem fit to find out;
whether the appellant was allotted plot by the Administrator, and
that after such allotments having been set aside on 17.07.1984,
whether fresh allotment was made to the appellant by the Society.
If such allotment is found to be made, the appellant would be
entitled to possession of the plot of 250 sq. yards.  If it is found
that the plot allotted to the appellant is not available, the Registrar
or its delegate shall pass such necessary order to redress the
grievance of the appellant after giving an opportunity of hearing
to the affected persons. In case, there is a suitable plot available,
then the Registrar or its delegate shall allot a suitable plot out of
the plots allotted to the Society located in BRS Nagar. The
necessary exercise shall be completed by giving opportunity of
hearing to the affected persons preferably within the stipulated
period. [Para 17-20][129-B-G]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 3963-
3965 of 2019.
From the Judgment and Order dated  16.05.2011 of the  High
Court of  Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in C.M. Nos. 2974-2976
of 2011 in CWP No. 19358 of 2008.
Varinder Kumar Sharma, Mohd. Shahid Hussain, Advs. for the
Appellant.
Gurpreet Singh, Vishnu Sharma, Advs. for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
HEMANT GUPTA, J. 1. Leave granted.
2. Challenge in the present appeals is to an order passed on
16.05.2011 in the review application filed by the appellant and the order
dated 09.12.2002 passed in Writ Petition No. 19358 of 2002 by the High
Court of Punjab and Haryana.
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3. The case has a chequered history. The appellant is one of the
founder members of the Society1 established to provide residential plots
to its members. The Appellant deposited some amounts between
12.05.1975 to 15.01.1982 for the purpose of allotment of a residential
plot. The credit balance as on 15.01.1982 is said to be Rs. 11,475/-. The
Society made a request to the Chairman of Improvement Trust, Ludhiana
for development of

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