Authority: High Court of Judicature at Bombay

Order Date: October 1, 2026

Case Overview

  • Applicant: Zoroastrian Radih Society, a charitable trust registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, seeking enforcement of obligations arising from individual Agreements for Sale executed with flat purchasers of various Behramshah Shroff Building Co‑operative Housing Societies (Buildings No.2‑9, 5, etc.).
  • Respondent: Behramshah Shroff Building CHS Limited societies, registered under the Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960.
  • Dispute Details: Failure to execute lease deed, non‑payment of ground lease rent for over two decades, non‑payment of administrative, maintenance and parking charges, and unauthorised use of open spaces and parking areas.
  • Arbitration Invocation: Applicant invoked Clause 36 of the Agreements for Sale (arbitration clause) on 4 Oct 2023 and nominated Advocate Aksh Doctor as sole arbitrator; parties could not agree on arbitrator.
  • Respondent’s Objections: (i) Pending consumer proceedings before the NCDRC (Interim Application No. 5157/2023 seeking Rs 11,75,190‑Rs 52,56,720); (ii) The Society was not a signatory to the Agreements for Sale.
  • Applicant’s Undertaking: Declared it would withdraw the interim application before the NCDRC; court accepted this undertaking.
  • Legal Reasoning: Court examined precedents (M. Hemalatha Devi, Shri Shivranjan Towers) and held that (a) a pending consumer case does not bar arbitration once the applicant withdraws the parallel claim, and (b) non‑signatory status does not preclude arbitration because the Society represents the same flat purchasers who are parties to the original agreements.

Final Outcome

  • All eight Section 11 applications are allowed; Mr. Vikramjit Garewal is appointed as the sole arbitrator.
  • Procedural directions: copy of order to be sent to arbitrator within one week; arbitrator to issue statutory disclosure under Sec 11(8) & 12(1) within two weeks; parties to appear before arbitrator for scheduling; arbitration costs to be borne equally; petitions under Sec 9 converted to applications under Sec 17.
  • The applicant’s undertaking to withdraw the NCDRC interim application is binding; no determination on the substantive monetary claims (Rs 59,70,723‑Rs 72,36,564) at this stage.

Topics: Arbitration Appointment, Cooperative Housing Dispute, Consumer Proceedings