The Telangana High Court has issued an interim order restraining Siddamsetty’s Himasai Heights Flat Owners Maintenance Mutually Aided Cooperative Society Limited from taking any coercive steps pursuant to its demand notice to petitioners demanding payment of maintenance dues.
A division bench comprising Justice A Abhishek Reddy and Justice M Sudheer Kumar on Saturday gave the order on a petition filed by P P Srinivas and five others who challenged the constitutional validity of Section 21 of the Telangana Apartments (Promotion of Construction and Ownership) Act, 1987, which confers power on the flat owners’ association to cut off or withhold essential services like water, electricity, sanitary services.
The petitioners are flat owners in the apartment complex New Bakaram, Hyderabad. The case of the petitioners before the High Court is that notices were issued to them by the association, threatening discontinuance of water supply, intercom facility, garbage collection facility and non-provision of plumber/electrician and also not allowing visitors, maids and delivery boys and that the petitioners will not be allowed to enter the lifts if the demanded maintenance amounts were not paid to the Association.
The petitioners stated that the Association has been registered as a Mutually Aided Co-operative Society (MACS) and that the said Association has not admitted all the flat owners, including the petitioners, to the General Body as members and that several ineligible people have been admitted and that the constitution of the association itself is illegal. The case has been adjourned till June 6, 2022.