Nominee or legal heir — who gets the flat? Supreme Court in Indrani Wahi, decoded

A member of your society has died. The nominee is at the Secretary's desk with a completed application, and within the hour the member's brother is on the phone, saying the society must not transfer anything until the family agrees. The Supreme Court faced exactly this in Indrani Wahi.

The case in brief

Biswa Ranjan Sengupta was a member of Sarbar View Cooperative Housing Society Ltd., Salt Lake City, Kolkata. He had named his daughter, Indrani Wahi, as sole nominee under section 79 of the West Bengal Co-operative Societies Act 1983. He died on 22 July 2003, survived by his wife, Indrani and a son.

Indrani applied for transfer on 5 August 2003. The Managing Committee resolved unanimously on 15 August 2003 to transfer it and sent the papers to the Deputy Registrar. The son objected on his mother's behalf. On 11 November 2003 the Deputy Registrar refused: as the deceased had a family of his own, a nomination in favour of a married daughter could not be accepted, and a letter of administration or succession certificate was needed under rule 128.

The Calcutta High Court's Single Judge allowed Indrani's writ petition. A Division Bench held she could be made a member, but the heirs' interest had to be recorded in the share certificate and register, and the share transferred only with all heirs' consent. Indrani appealed (Civil Appeal No. 4646 of 2006, decided 10 March 2016 by Jagdish Singh Khehar J. and C. Nagappan J.).

What the court decided

The appeal was allowed. Where a member nominates in accordance with the Rules, the society is mandated, on the member's death, to transfer all the share or interest into the nominee's name. The rights of others by inheritance or succession are subservient: succession operates only if the member made no nomination under section 79.

The society is liable to transfer on a valid nomination; it "has no option whatsoever, except to transfer the membership in the name of the nominee". That transfer binds the society but has no relevance to title between the inheritors of the deceased, who may pursue succession or inheritance claims in accordance with law.

Why it matters for your society

The case arose under the West Bengal statute. For Maharashtra it is persuasive and analogous on the society's duty, not a binding reading of our statute.

Maharashtra points the same way. Bye-law 34 says that on a member's death the society shall, subject to section 30 of the MCS Act 1960 and bye-law 17A or 19, transfer the deceased member's shares and interest to the nominee, and Rule 106C-6(1) of the 2026 Amendment Rules gives the nominee provisional membership on application with an indemnity bond. A succession certificate is needed only where there is no nomination and either the committee cannot decide who the heir is or the claimants cannot agree.

What Maharashtra adds expressly, and the Supreme Court did not say, is the trustee character of the nominee-member's holding (Note to Bye-law 34) and, from 2026, a provisional membership that ends when the heirs are brought on record. So do not read the ruling as saying the nominee owns the flat; read it as: we must transfer, and the heirs' rights are decided elsewhere. The Court's subservient-right language sits comfortably with these provisions; they spell out what the Court left to other forums.

What your committee should do

1. 1Keep the register of nominations current. The nomination is in the prescribed form, signed by the member; the Secretary's acknowledgement is deemed acceptance; there is no fee for the first nomination and ₹100 for every revision (Bye-law 32). Every nominee, revocation and variation is recorded in the Rule 32 register (Rules 106C-8 and 106C-9).
2. 2Place each nomination or revocation before the next Committee meeting, minute it, enter it in the register within 7 days of that meeting (Bye-law 33).
3. 3On a death, check the register first. If there is a nomination, the nominee applies within six months of the death (Bye-law 34), on Form Y-4 with an indemnity bond (Rule 106C-6(1)). Do not demand a succession certificate first.
4. 4For several nominees, take one joint application naming who is to be enrolled as member. The others become Joint/Associate Members unless they indicate otherwise, and an indemnity bond is needed where the nominees name only one of them (Bye-law 34).
5. 5Transfer, and record the limitation. The nominee-member holds the flat in trust until all legal heirs are brought on record, with no right of ownership and no third-party interest or alienation (Note to Bye-law 34). A provisional member has no right, title or ownership, is not named on the share certificate, and provisional membership ceases once the legal heirs' names are entered in the society's records (Rule 106C-6(1)).
6. 6If there is no nomination, or no nominee comes forward, invite claims and objections by public notice within six months of information of the death, on the notice board and in at least two local newspapers, and take an indemnity bond (Bye-law 35). If the committee cannot decide who the heir is, or the claimants cannot agree, call for a legal heirship certificate, succession certificate or letter of administration (Rule 106C-6(1)); Bye-law 35 requires a succession certificate from the competent court.
7. 7Tell the objecting relative in writing that the transfer does not decide title, and that the heirs may pursue their claims in the proper forum.

Limits of this ruling

This is a West Bengal case: persuasive for Maharashtra, not binding on our statute. It does not decide title between heirs. It did not hold that a married daughter is within the family; the Court said it need not decide that, and accepted the High Court's finding only because the respondents did not challenge it. It does not say the nominee becomes owner, and does not analyse the bye-laws, though section 79 is subject to them. It does not use the word trustee. The Court held Sarbati Devi (1984) 1 SCC 424, on LIC nominees, to be not of much significance, and Gayatri De (2004) 5 SCC 90 to be of no relevance.