UT may allow intra-co-owner share sales in joint property as per SC directives: HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the Chandigarh Administration may permit the sale of shares belonging to a co-owner in a jointly owned property to the co-sharers. But such permission was required to be granted in accordance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court.

The assertion came as the Bench dismissed four petitions against the Chandigarh Administration, which has restricted fragmentation and apartmentalisation of residential properties in line with the Supreme Court ruling on maintaining the city’s unique heritage and urban planning principles. UT was represented by senior advocate Amit Jhanji.

In one of the pleas, the petitioner was a co-owner of 30 per cent share in a co-owned property/residential house in Sector 15-B. He was seeking the quashing of a public notice imposing restrictions in line with the SC judgment.

Highlighting the need for striking a proper balance between sustainable development and environment protection, the Supreme Court had prohibited fragmentation/division/bifurcation/apartmentalisation of a residential unit in Phase 1 (Sector 1 to 30) of Chandigarh

The Bench asserted that while the sale of a co-owner’s share in a joint property to outsiders would be impermissible, the administration could consider allowing such sales among existing co-owners. “The Chandigarh Administration, if found feasible, but taking into consideration the directions passed by the Apex Court, may consider to permit sale of shares of a particular co-owner in a jointly owned property to the other co-sharers. The permission of sale would reduce the already existing apartmentalization/ fragmentation in Chandigarh, where co-owners/strangers reside on separate floors in a single dwelling unit/building. It would further also reduce the densification in Phase – 1, Chandigarh. Moreover, it would also not stagnate the legal rights of the co-owners concerned, in terms of the Transfer of Property Act, the Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Vikas Suri asserted.

The High Court held that the Chandigarh Administration may, in consultation with the Heritage Committee, examine the applicability of the public notice in areas outside Phase-I. Any such considerations must strictly adhere to the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031 and the existing legal framework. “Since in the verdict made by the Apex Court, directions have been passed to maintain the heritage status of Le Corbusier Zone i.e. Phase – I Chandigarh, the Chandigarh Administration may consider the applicability of the impugned notice, but in consultation with the Heritage Committee onto the areas other than Phase – I, Chandigarh, besides strictly in terms of the prevalent Rules and the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031,” the Bench added

The court ruled that the decision taken in a meeting chaired by the Adviser to the Administrator on January 23, 2023, was in consonance with the Supreme Court’s verdict and could not be interfered with. It added that there existed a statutory prohibition on the fragmentation of buildings through apartmentalization, particularly when developers created and sold separate apartments to multiple individuals. The public notice, which sought to curb such practices, was legally sound and in complete alignment with the apex court's ruling.