My Apartment is registered under West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act 1972. My queries are listed below 1) We had an election recently and as per bye-laws, maximum 48 Managers can be in the board. 66 members formed nominations and 47 were elected, but there was a tie for the 48th Manager between 3 members. Election committee is not taking responsibility to resolve this issues as per the guidelines set in the SGM, and the board is being formed and office bearers are elected and board has started functioning without giving the democratic right to the 48th Manager. Is it legally valid ? Can the Election Committee members frame their own guidelines and conduct elections which was not passed in the SGM 2) We have a registered Association which collects cam and take care of day to day maintenance under West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act'1972. We need to celebrate cultural events. Do we need to get this Cultural committee registered under the society act and go ahead or can out Association collect funds for cultural activities and go ahead. 3) Does a member have the right to go to accounts office and inspect the books of accounts on day to day basis giving prior intimation to the board. Or does the member have a right to only inspect the audited statement of accounts. Name: Vishal Grover Email: [deleted] Phone: [deleted] Location: Kolkata, West Bengal
First answer received in 30 minutes.
Lawyers are available now to answer your questions.
Election of 47 members is valid
2) as far as 48 th candidate elections complain to registrar if procedure has not been followed
3) cultural committee cannot be rejected under societies act as association registered under apartment act
4) you have right to inspect books of accounts after giving prior notice
Can the Election Committee frame their own guidelines and conduct elections which are not passed in the SGM . The board has denied for inspection of books of accounts even after giving prior notice. What needs to be done. Can the Cultural committee be registered under the society act and collect funds for cultural events.. This cultural committee will have its seperate identity with its own pan card and own bank account.
Procedure for conducting elections is laid down in bye laws adopted by association
2) if bye laws are silent then EC should follow resolution passed by SGM
3) there is generally election officer appointed for conducting elections
4) if inspection of books is not given complain to registrar
5) cultural committee is sub committee formed by AGM resolution .it cannot collect funds for cultural activities if prohibited under provisions of apartment act of your state
Then how do we collect funds for cultural events organised in our apartment as form of subscription from the flat owners
Do it on voluntary basis
voluntary contribution
dont raise it on bill
give receipts
Thank you so much for your prompt response and clarifying my queries. My last query is how do we take sponsorship from other companies under this cultural committee account without raising any bill
Ask the companies to bear expenses for organising cultural programmes and agree to keep the banners of companies for advertising purposes
- As per bye-law 5 of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, (1) There shall be a Board of Managers in respect of each Association to carry on and manage the affairs and business of the Association and to exercise all such powers of the Association as are not required to be exercised by the Association in a general meeting.
(2)The number of Managers of a Board shall be equal to one-third of the number of the apartment owners of the property concerned but in no case it shall be less than three or more than twenty-four.
- Since, there is a tie for the 48th Manager between 3 members, then it is the responsibility of the Election Committee to resolve the said issues , and the said members having right to lodge a complaint against the formation of the society before the Registrar.
- Further, the election committee cannot go beyond the SGM.
Thank you sir for your response. Is the formation of the board completed by the Election Committee without declaring the name of the 48th Manager. The EC is not responding to any queries. Point no 2 and point no 3 clarification is pending from your good office
Thank for your appreciation
We are unable to seek replies of other advocates hence cannot comment on the same
Dear Client,
1. The board's functioning with out resolving the tie for the 48th Manager can be legally invalid as all participants must have their democratic rights upheld. The Election Committee need to comply with guidelines set within the SGM, now not create their personal.
2. The registered Association underneath the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, can acquire price range and prepare cultural events with out registering a separate Cultural Committee under the Society Act.
3. Members have the right to investigate books of accounts with earlier notice, no longer just audited statements. If denied, enhance the difficulty to the suitable legal or regulatory authority. For sponsorships, the Cultural Committee may be registered under the Society Act, get a PAN card, and a bank account, making sure transparency and legality in fund collection with out raising payments.
1. The Election committee has not declared the election of the 48th member hence it has to follow the guidelines for conducting the elections as prescribed in the bylaws of the association or the act itself, any deviation to existing procedure can be termed as invalid and illegal.
The Competent Authority can take action based on its own initiative or on the complaint of any person. There is no statutory requirement for the complaints to be forwarded by the Association or the majority of its members.
A complaint against the negligent attitude of the election committee can be made before the competent authority.
2. The proposed cultural committee cannot be a part of the apartment owners association, there are no bylaws or provisions in the act to accommodate a registered body in the name of cultural committee.
If at all the members are desirous of having cultural programs within the association, resolution has to be passed in an extra or special meeting of the association to facilitate organizing of the proposed cultural activities and this can be only a temporary permission and momentary provided it has the support of the majority of embers in the meeting.
3. Every member of the association is having a right to inspect the books of accounts held by the association by giving prior notice to the secretary/treasurer for this purpose.
The Election committee has to follow the guidelines for conducting the elections as prescribed in the bylaws of the association or the act itself, any deviation to existing procedure can be termed as invalid and illegal. A complaint against the negligent attitude of the election committee can be made before the competent authority.
Section 16-B of the Act empowers the Competent Authority to investigate and take action if the Board of Managers or Manager of an Association fails to perform its functions under the Act or Bye-Laws, and this is detrimental to the interests of the Association, apartment owners, or against public interest....
The cultural activities are not part of the functions of the apartment owners association as prescribed in the bylaws or the act.
However it can function as a separate entity outside the apartment complex and it can have its own bank account and also can decide about its own modus operandi.
Since the conduct of the cultural activities is not the part of the apartment owners association, the group of members who are interested to conduct such cultural activities have to arrange the collection of funds and the mode of celebration of the activity accordingly without involving the association.
The cultural activities is a private activity of a group of members of the association, hence they may organise the activities in the manner that was decided by their committee for this purpose and they can issue a receipt to the sponsors under their committee letter head accordingly.
In a similar situation, The Calcutta High court in Deepak Agarwal v. State of W.B., 2023 SCC OnLine Cal 3561, order dated [deleted] decided and held that
The Court held that the Competent Authority has the duty to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the complaints raised by the petitioner regarding the alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Association and its Board of Managers. The Competent Authority must form an opinion under Section 16B(2) of the Act to determine if a show-cause notice is needed for the Manager/Board of Managers...
You may peruse the above judgement and pursue the mater accordingly.
- Since, as per bye-laws, the maximum 48 Managers can be in the board, it means the declaration of extra name is not mandatory.
- Further, association by-laws and resolutions must be limited to the mandate of governing the association/society’s affairs and nothing more.
- Further, if there is no resolution for the programs , then it even not needed , as the association cannot implement such resolution in AGM/SGM and put contributing any money on all members, who are not interested to participate in the program.
- Hence, if majority of members are ready for the said program, then you can collect the fund even without the approval of the association.
- All members have the right to inspect records, book of accounts and to get the certified copies of the same by giving prior notice to the Management Committee.
You need to raise bill or any other proof for the same
