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Indrani Wahi v. Registrar of Coop. Societies & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 4646 of 2006)Decided 10 Mar 2016
Civil Appeal No. 4646 of 2006
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Biswa Ranjan Sengupta, a member of a Kolkata cooperative housing society, had nominated his daughter Indrani Wahi under Section 79 of the West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act, 1983, to receive his share/interest in a flat on his death. After he died in 2003, the appellant sought to have the flat transferred into her name under the nomination, but the Cooperative Society and other authorities resisted, partly because her brother (the deceased's son) also laid claim to the property, and partly relying on an earlier Supreme Court ruling that had taken a different view of how such nominations operate.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that where a member of a cooperative society has made a valid nomination under Section 79 of the 1983 Act (read with Rules 127 and 128 of the 1987 Rules), the cooperative society has no discretion and must transfer the membership/share into the nominee's name: the society cannot withhold the transfer merely because other family members also claim inheritance rights. The Court clarified that this transfer by the society is distinct from, and does not finally settle, the separate legal question of title/succession among the deceased's heirs: that broader inheritance dispute (here, between the appellant and her brother) remains open to be pursued separately under ordinary succession law. On this basis, the Court directed the Cooperative Society to transfer the flat's share/interest to Indrani Wahi, while leaving her brother free to pursue his own succession claim if he wished. The connected Civil Appeal No. 4930 of 2006 was disposed of in identical terms by consent of the parties.

Lesson Learnt

A valid nomination under cooperative society law entitles the nominee to have the membership/share transferred into their name as a matter of the society's internal records, but a nomination is not the same as a final inheritance right; other legal heirs can still separately contest ownership of the underlying property through succession proceedings.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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