Acquisition of cessed property for co-operative societies of occupiers

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any of the provisions of Chapter VIII or any other law for the time being in force or in any agreement, contracts, judgement, decree or order of any Court or Tribunal to the contrary, a co-operative society formed or proposed to be formed under the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961), by not less than seventy per cent. of the occupiers in a cessed building may by written application request the Board to move the State Government to acquire the land together with the existing building thereon or where the owner of the (1) building does not own the land underneath or appurtenant to such building but holds it as a lessee or licensee, or where any person holds the building or the land underneath or appurtenant to such building or both under a lease or license, then to acquire the right or interest of such owner or person in or over, such building or land or both as lessee or licensee together with the existing building thereon (hereinafter in this Chapter referred to as “the land”), in the interest of its better preservation or for reconstruction of a new building in lieu of the old one and intimate their willingness to pay the amount of such acquisition as may be determined under the provisions of this Chapter and to carry out the necessary structural and other repairs or, wherever necessary, to reconstruct a new building, as the case may be, at their own cost. Explanation I.— In this section the expression, seventy per cent. of the occupiers means the seventy per cent. of the occupiers on the date of commencement of the Maharashtra Housing and Area development (Second Amendment) Act, 1986 (Mah. XXI of 1986), and include their successors in interest or new tenants inducted in place of such occupiers, but does not include the owner or the occupiers inducted by virtue of creation of any additional tenancies or licences by the owner after the date of commencement of the aforesaid Act. Explanation II.— For the purpose of this sub-section, any suit or proceeding for recovery or possession of tenement or premises or part thereof, initiated against the occupier in any court or before any authority whether, before or after making an application under this sub-section, shall not affect the right of such occupier to join or to continue as a member of the co-operative society of the occupiers of the building, but his membership of such co-operative society shall be subject to the final decision in such suit or proceeding: Provided that, if in the meantime before the final decision in such suit or proceeding, the acquisition proceedings under this Chapter are completed and the land is conveyed to the co-operative society of the occupiers under sub-section (7), the claim for possession made in such suit or proceeding, at any stage where it is pending on the date of execution of such conveyance shall abate. (2) On receipt of the application made under sub-section (1), the Board shall after due verification and scrutiny, approve the proposal if it considers that it is in the interest of better preservation of the building or to be necessary for reconstruction of a new building and shall direct the co-operative society, whether registered or proposed, to deposit with the Board within the period specified by it in that behalf thirty per cent. of the approximate amount that would be required to be paid to the owner if the land is acquired and give intimation in that behalf to the owner. (2A) Where after the date of application made under sub-section (1),— (a) any owner has undertake the work of any repairs to the building; or (b) the percentage of the occupiers who had initially agreed to become members of the co-operative society formed under sub-section (1) is reduced to less than seventy per cent. of the occupiers as a result of some members opting out, or due to the number of additional tenancies or licences created in the building thereafter or due to any other reason whatsoever, then the power of Board to approve the proposal shall not be affected, and notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Board shall approve the proposal and direct the co-operatives society to deposit the approximate amount as required under sub-section (2). (3) On receipt of the amount of deposit as provided in sub-section (2), the Board shall submit to the State Government a proposal to acquire the land for the aforesaid purpose. (4) If on receipt of an acquisition proposal under sub-section (3), the state Government is satisfied about the reasonableness of the proposal, it may approve the proposal and communicate its approval to the Board. (5) On receipt of the Government approval, the Board shall forward acquisition proposal to Land Acquisition Officer for initiating an acquisition proceedings in accordance with the provisions of sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of section 93 and section 96 of this Act : Provided that, where any proceedings for acquisition of land are so initiated the notice to be published under sub-section (3) of section 93 in respect thereof need not contain any statement regarding provision of any alternative accommodation to occupiers in such land : Provided further that, where the proposal involves acquisition of the right or interest of the lessee or licensee in or over the building or land as referred to in sub-section (1), then such building or land on its transfer by the Authority to the co-operative society under sub-section (7), shall be held by the co-operative society on lease or licence, as the case may be, subject, however, to the following conditions, namely :— (i) where there is a subsisting lease or licence, on the same terms and conditions on which the lessee or licensee held it, and (ii) where the lease or licence has been determined or where the lessee or licensee has committed breach of the terms and conditions of the lease or licence, as the case may be, on the fresh terms and conditions, particularly in regard to the period of lease or license and rent as may be stipulated by the owner of the land. (5A) Where acquisition proceedings have been initiated as provided in sub-section (5) and a notification under sub-section (5) of section 93 is published, the Collector shall take and hand over possession of the land to the Board in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (6) of section 93. (6) After the land is vested absolutely in the Board on behalf of the Authority free from all encumbrances and the amount to be paid to the owner is determined, the Board shall require the society to get itself registered if it is not registered till then and to deposit the remainder of the amount to be paid to the owner with the Land Acquisition Officer. The Board shall simultaneously pass on the amount deposited by the co-operative society with it to the Land Acquisition Officer. The Land Acquisition Officer shall thereupon make the payment of the amount for acquisition or deposit the same in the court as provided in section 46. (7) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (6), the Authority shall convey the land acquired under this section to the co-operative society of the occupiers thereof with its right, title and interest therein and execute without undue delay the necessary documents in that behalf.