Mumbai: 80-yr-old battles alone with society, government over 2010 fine

AN 80yearold woman has been slapped with a recovery proceedings notice by the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies for alleged nonpayment of maintenance warning her of attachment of property if the notice mdash demanding over Rs 1 lakh mdash is not complied withMahim resident Lily Coutinho a widow is battling her society and the authorities over the notice served in the second week of October by the Special Recovery amp Sales Officer of the Mumbai District Cooperative Housing Federation She claims that she has been paying the maintenance in time and the notice is actually a means to extract from her a Rs 25000 fine from 2010I have been paying the maintenance in time even though the society has not issued bills since January 2019 I recently paid the quarterly maintenance OctoberDecember of R9432 and I have bank statements to prove it My objection has always been over R25000 levied for no fault of mine and the 21 per cent interest I protested and refused to pay the fine which today is being shown as defaulted payment and interest of 21 per cent Coutinho saidCoutinho had fixed a metallic angle extension on the exterior wall of the building sometime in 2010 to prevent cars from parking right in front of her groundfloor flat She claimed that cars almost touching her balconys grill led to rodents entering her house The smoke from the ignition too would cause problems midday had reported about the Rs 25000 fine in its May 17 2010 report Rs 30K fine for 12inch bracket Coutinho claims that the metal extension was stolen within a month for which she had registered a police complaintBack in 2010 the societys thenSecretary A Apte had said The penalty amount was not paid to the society and so interest was levied on the unpaid dues The society imposed the fine in February 2010 but the same was not cleared due to which another fine was imposed on the CoutinhosThe Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies GN Ward Sachin Ghodke acting on an application by Mahim Jolly Cooperative Housing Society passed an order concluding that Respondent Coutinho is in arrears of the societys dues and approved a Recovery Certificate for Rs 107117 The amount includes the recovery amount of Rs 92347 interest of Rs 11960 for the period of June 30 2018 to September 30 2019 and other miscellaneous chargesAttempts to contact Ghodke did not yield any results Shankar Malhari Special Recovery and Sales Officer of the Mumbai District Cooperative Housing Federation Ltd confirmed the issuing of the Demand NoticeCoutinho shows the spot where she installed the metal extensionMy duty is the execution of the award issued by the Deputy Registrar The society has obtained a recovery certificate from the Deputy Registrar and as per my order the flat occupant has 60 days time to appeal before the District Deputy Officer after depositing 50 per cent of the amount due Failing which the recovery officer can attach property over nonpayment Malhari saidDr R V Tripathi the present secretary of Coutinhos society said Coutinho has not been paying maintenance for a yearandahalf Also some fine was levied by the chairman almost a decade ago which is still unpaid We asked Coutinho for a discussion but she never acknowledged our request Registered post sent to her by the society was never accepted for which we have proof Ultimately we had to approach the Deputy Registrar for recovery certificate proceedingsWe have given all papers to the Deputy Registrar and do not wish to comment said the societys present chairman Vilas KabreCoutinho countered Tripathi by saying that she cannot climb up to the terrace for society meetings I was not allowed to vote recently on the grounds that I am a defaulter My request to send my son as a proxy was not accepted eitherCoutinho used to be an officebearer in the society a few years ago But her position was contested before the Deputy Registrar by the buildings residents An election supervised by the Deputy Registrar was conducted in 2018 and a new committee was appointed It was then that Coutinho allegedly stop paying maintenanceSenior Advocate Clement Lobo who is representing Lilly said Lilly has not been given a chance to be heard The Deputy Registrars order is arbitrary and whimsical In addition the order was passed with all dates for the hearing scheduled within one month This is not the usual practiceThere are Bombay High Court judgments stating that recovery proceedings are initiated only for maintenance charges and for any definite dues payable to the society The R25000 fine is in violation of the societys byelaws which mandate only a Rs 5000 fine per anumThe Deputy Registrars office did not even furnish the proceeding details to Coutinho until she filed an RTI to get the same We will appeal against the recovery notice and since the recovery certificate has been issued under Section 101 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies MCS Act we are supposed to pay 50 per cent of the due amount for no fault of Coutinho This is being done to harass and humiliate an elderly helpless widowExpert speakAdvocate Vinod Sampat an expert in cooperative law said Putting a metal bracket outside the premises amounts to unauthorised construction the penalty for which is five times the maintenance with retrospective effect However in this case the said society Mahim Jolly Cottage CHS Ltd appears to have clubbed maintenance with service charges which is incorrect and a violation Therefore the society cannot levy penaltySampat added The penalty is a case of abuse of power However if the society has passed an AGM resolution to levy penalty the aggrieved member must challenge it in the cooperative court on the grounds of oppression of minority by majority The other ground would be favour being shown to a member at the expense of another member who is being harassedDeputy Registrars orderIn his order dated March 29 2019 a copy of which is with midday the Deputy Registrar Cooperative Societies GN Ward Sachin Ghodake has saidOn taking into consideration application submitted by the applicant society documents on record and written say of the respondent Lily Coutinho the comments and conclusions are mdash1 The Respondent above named was formally sent notices and given necessary and adequate opportunity for hearing and submitting say in the interest of justice On scrutiny of accounts and other documents submitted by the applicant society and enquiry I am convinced that the Respondent is in arrears of the societys dues2 On perusal of then documents and extract of account submitted by the Applicant society it is seen Respondent is in arrears of Rs 92347 As I am convinced that it is necessary to issue Recovery Certificate for recovery of the said amount I am passing order as under mdashRespondent to pay the Applicant societya Claim recoverable amount Rs 92347b Application fee and costs Rs 2310 mdash Expense incurred by the Applicant mdash stamp affixed on the application Rs 1810 enquiry fee and expenses Rs 500 mdash total Rs 2310Total amt mdash Rs 94657Plus interest at the rate of 21 per cent from June 30 2018 on the amount of Rs 92347 till the said amount is fully paid However if the Respondent has made any payment to the society after filing this application that amount should be deducted and the balance amount be recovered from the RespondentI further order that the above amount due from the Respondent be recovered by adopting the procedure adopted for the recovery of arrears of land revenue as per provisions of Maharashtra Land Revenue Code 1956Rs 92347Recover amount demandedRs 11960 Interest from demandedCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates