Tenant can use flat owner's parking space, rules Maharashtra court

A tenant or a lease and licence holder has the right to park their vehicle in the space allotted in the society premises to a member ruled the Maharashtra state cooperative appellate court recentlyA cooperative housing society at Nepeansea Road was ldquotemporarily restrainedrdquo by the court from preventing a flat owner from allowing a person who had rented the flat to use his parking slot stated a report in The Times of IndiaThe February 9 judgment said that the only question that arose for consideration was ldquowhether the licensee can enjoy the parking space which is allotted tothe member of the societyrdquoldquoAs per Development Control Rules framed under the MRTP Act 1966 the tenant cannot be denied parkingrdquo stated the judgment in an appeal filed by a member of the south Mumbai societyldquoThe society should not discriminate as parking rules are governed by DC Rules and if the owner is eligible to get parking space then the tenant should also get the benefit of that spacerdquo added the judgmentS S Kadan 68 a retired Army brigadier had appealed against a cooperative court order last year rejecting his plea for interim relief He had challenged the societyrsquos 2014 car parking policy as ldquoarbitrary and unreasonablerdquo When he let out his flat last year he said the society showed him the 2014 policy that sets out priority for car parking and rejected his request to permit his licensee to park a car in the society premisesThe society has 110 members and 101 parking slots he said however the society told him there were only 70 parking slots for 110 flatsHis counsel Aditya Chitale and Prathamesh Bhosle said Kadan purchased a flat in the building in 2006 and was allotted an opentosky car parking slot by the society He sought a declaration that his licensee was entitled to use the slot He also sought to prevent the society from obstructing such prospective tenants from using his parking space for a temporary period The society through law firm AAK Legal argued its car parking policy approved by the AGM was fair to all members and ldquowell within the ambit of Bye Law 78 B which specifically states that if a society has the right to allot parking then no other member can transfer or assign it to any other personThe societyrsquos counsel added that priority to parking space was based on three preferencesfirst to members not allotted any second to members who owned a second vehicle and also have one parking and third is for temporary parking to guests and tenants provided space is availableThe society admitted the Kadanrsquos licensees were allowed car parking till 2014 From then till 2020 the family occupied itThe court said the flat owner was only seeking relief to ldquonot to prevent his licensee from enjoyingrsquorsquo his parking space for a temporary period ldquohence the question of nonavailability of space as alleged by the society does not ariserdquoldquoThe trial court failed to consider that the licensee has the right to enjoy the facilities and amenities attached to the flat which heshe has taken on a license basis till the license period is overrsquorsquo stated the cooperative appeal court judgment setting aside the trial court order The judgment also said trial court failed to consider that since September 2020 the society allowed Kadanrsquos licensee to park her vehicle in the slot on payment of daily chargesIt also said the flat owner has a right to seek inspection of the society records free of cost under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act and directed the society to allow him such inspection The court directed the trial court to decide the dispute over levy of any penalty other than appropriate parking charges expeditiously within eight months