30 years on, SC appoints ex-HC judge to settle Noida flat row

The Supreme Court has appointed a former Allahabad High Court judge to head a single-member committee tasked with identifying genuine members of a Noida housing society and determining their eligibility for flats, as a dispute over allotments dating back more than three decades remains unresolved despite a 2022 verdict intended to settle the matter.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana appointed Justice Sudhir Kumar Saxena to the independent committee, invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure that the benefits of its earlier judgment reach the rightful claimants of the Kendriya Karamchari Sahkari Grih Nirman Samiti.

The committee has been asked to complete the exercise within eight weeks and submit its report to the court. The next hearing has been scheduled for December 2.

The intervention comes more than three years after the Supreme Court’s September 22, 2022 judgment directed the Noida authority to allot multi-storeyed flats to 844 identified members of the society, while leaving the claims of 133 subsequent purchasers to be examined separately. Implementation, however, has been repeatedly delayed by disagreements over the number and identity of eligible members.

“Having regard to the fact that this process has remained inconclusive despite repeated affidavits and directions and considering that a large number of the original allottee-members have been awaiting the fruits of litigation for over three decades, we are satisfied that an independent verification mechanism to decide the competing claims and implement this Court’s earlier directions is necessary,” the bench said in its order last week.

The committee will identify genuine society members and determine their claims and entitlements under the 2022 judgment. It will be free to devise its own procedure, call for documents and hear members and claimants as it considers necessary. Noida, the society and all claimants have been directed to cooperate fully and provide relevant records.

Noida has also been directed to provide secretarial and logistical support to the committee. The honorarium payable to justice Saxena, to be borne by Noida, will be determined at the next hearing.

The dispute dates back to allotments made in the 1990s to 1,754 members of the cooperative housing society, who deposited around ₹36 crore towards the proposed plots. Following complaints of fake memberships, Noida conducted an inquiry through a committee headed by its then deputy chief executive officer and cancelled the allotments in May 1998.

The cancellation triggered prolonged litigation over the society’s land holdings, alleged violations of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950, and the eligibility of its members. Disputes concerning land acquisition and ceiling proceedings also reached the Allahabad High Court.

In its September 2022 judgment, the Supreme Court directed Noida to develop a group-housing plot in Sector 43 and facilitate flats of approximately 1,800 sq ft for 844 identified members, at prices applicable under its policy. It also directed Noida to examine the claims of 133 subsequent purchasers and extend similar benefits if they were found eligible.

However, disputes over membership figures and the eligibility of transferees stalled implementation. In July 2023, the court directed Noida to verify additional claims after the society said there were 858 original allottees and 119 subsequent purchasers. In March 2024, the court recorded figures of 863 original members and 120 subsequent purchasers.

Noida maintained that the original allotment letters prohibited transfers without its prior permission and that the 1998 cancellations were followed by refunds. The society countered that Noida’s inaction on transfer requests prevented the necessary permissions and that refund cheques had neither been encashed nor the amounts redeposited.

The continuing dispute has now prompted the Supreme Court to appoint an independent former high court judge to verify the claims and facilitate implementation of its 2022 verdict.