Society administrator violates poll norms, members fume

First, the administrator of a housing society in Andheri overstayed his term, resorting to every trick in the book to be part of the lucrative redevelopment process. And when the bluff was called by a DNA report (on September 4), the administrator went into overdrive to unilaterally announce the society elections without following the procedure. The administrator’s action, say some members of the society, will not only derail the election process, but also the entire redevelopment process.

As much as the situation at New Aarti CHS in Andheri (East) is symbolic of the mess that many housing societies find themselves in over issues of redevelopment, the suspect role of the administrator has further complicated things for the society members. “The administrator’s returning officer just pasted a notice in the society, inviting nominations within a week’s time and announced the polls on October 7. Neither did he put up the list of bonafide members, nor did he give the mandatory 15 day notice period for any objections,” said Anil Jogi, former secretary of the society, who was ousted by the administrator in November last year.

The three-building complex of Aarti CHS, comprises 93 crumbling apartments in configurations of 1BHK and one-room kitchen, adding up to a carpet area of 38,000 square feet. Being eligible for an FSI of 2.7, the carpet area alone would be about 1 lakh square feet post-redevelopment, with an estimated market value of Rs150 crore. “The registrar is bound to first set the society’s affairs in order by creating a register of the members, recovering the outstanding dues to the tune of almost Rs15 lakh and only then can he handover the society to the members,” said former-treasurer Amit Shah, adding that instead of putting the house in order, things have got worse after the arrival of the administrator.
The administrator moved in last year, following several complaints by the members against the earlier managing committee for non-compliance of norms and mismanagement. “Right from not submitting the M-20 indemnity bonds to not conducting the AGM on time, the earlier committee was found lacking on at least 10 counts, following which the society was taken over by the administrator,” said a member. As per norms, the administrator is supposed to conduct fresh elections and handover the society to the members within six months.

Meanwhile, the administrators maintained that the delay in handing over the society to the members has nothing to do with the redevelopment plans and that due procedure is being followed. “The process of scrutinising the members and conducting fresh elections is underway and the society would be handed over in due course of time,” said an assistant of the administrator.