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6. On 23rd July, 2019, Respondent No. 1 filed an application in the said Dispute for framing preliminary issue on the ground of maintainability under Section 91 of the MCS Act, 1960, which application was subsequently amended to seek the relief of rejection of plaint as not maintainable under Order VII, Rule 11 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The rejection of Dispute was sought on the following grounds:

(a) the Dispute fails to reveal cause of action;

(b) The subject matter of the Dispute directly touches the issue of development of Suit property as it seeks to challenge the re-development process, which is beyond the purview of Section 91 of MCS Act; and

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                                                              WP 8254 of 2022 (final).doc


REASONS AND ANALYSIS:

14. With the intent to provide a specialized forum for adjudication of specialized disputes, the Civil Courts jurisdiction which is otherwise unlimited, was barred under Section 163 of MCS Act qua any dispute required to be referred to the Co-operative Court for decision. The disputes which can be referred to the Co-operative Court is provided in Section 91 of MCS Act, which reads thus:

16. The five classes of Dispute which are enumerated under Section 91 of MCS Act are :

(a) dispute touching the Constitution of the Society;

(b) dispute touching the election of officers;

(c) dispute touching the conduct of general meetings of the Society;

(d) dispute touching the management of the Society; and

(e) dispute touching the business of the society.

As far as parties to the lis are concerned, both parties are required to be one or other of the following:

CONCLUSION:

26. Apart from challenging the legality of the Resolutions as the Dispute challenges the consequent deeds, decisions and actions taken pursuant to the impugned Resolution, the Dispute also seeks declaration that the Development Agreement is illegal, bad in law and void-ab-initio. The Dispute also impleads the Developer who does not fall within the enumerated class of parties to the lis under Section 91 of MCS Act. The declaratory relief of this nature qua the Development Agreement falling under Section 31 of Specific Relief Act, 1963 can be granted only by Civil Court. Thus, with the presence of the Developer and the challenge to the Development Agreement, the subject-matter of the lis as well as the parties to the lis qua the Development Agreement is not within the jurisdiction of the Co-operative Court.