Removal of a member from a housing society — Section 154B-9

A new committee goes through the member register and finds a name that looks wrong. The person was taken on as a member, but the steps required by the Act, rules and bye-laws were never properly followed. Members start arguing about whether he is really a member, and the committee is unsure whether it can simply strike the name off. The question is: who can undo the admission, and how?

What the provision says

Section 154B-9 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act deals with exactly this. When a question arises whether a person was duly admitted as a member of a society, or was admitted in violation of the Act, rules and bye-laws, it is the Registrar who decides it. The Registrar can act on his own motion (suo motu) or on an application. He must decide the question within three months from the date of the application. If he is satisfied that the person was admitted in violation of the Act, rules or bye-laws, he can pass an order removing that person from membership. There is one safeguard: no such order against the member can be passed without giving him "an opportunity of being heard".

What it means in practice

The power to decide sits with the Registrar, not with the committee acting alone. Removal is not automatic. It follows only if the Registrar is satisfied that the admission was in violation of the Act, rules or bye-laws. The member concerned must be heard before any adverse order is made.

For example, a member applies to the Registrar saying that a person on the register was never properly admitted. The Registrar must give that person a chance to put his side, and must decide within three months of the application. If he is satisfied that the admission was in violation, he can order removal. If he is not satisfied, no removal order follows.

Such questions most often surface when a flat changes hands, so our note on society dues before a flat transfer is worth reading alongside this one; and a member who needs the society's own admission papers to make his case can use the right to inspect society records.

What your committee should do

1. 1Write down exactly what went wrong in the admission, meaning which requirement of the Act, rules or bye-laws was not followed, and collect the society's records on it.
2. 2Raise the question with the Registrar by a written application, and note the date of the application, because the three months run from it. The Registrar may also act on his own motion.
3. 3Do not treat the person as removed on the committee's own decision. Wait for the Registrar's order.
4. 4Make sure the member concerned is given a fair chance to be heard, and cooperate with the hearing.
5. 5Keep the Registrar's order safely in the society's records and follow it once it is passed.