Appellate Court: Societies Not Liable for Leakage Inside Private Flats

The Maharashtra State Co-operative Appellate Court has ruled that a housing society cannot be held liable for water leakage or seepage caused by defects inside privately owned flats. The order came while dismissing an appeal filed by two shop owners against Raj Exotica Co-operative Housing Society in Mira Road, upholding an earlier decision by the Co-operative Court in Thane that had refused interim relief against the society.

What the court held

The appellate court drew a clear line around a society's maintenance duties: it is responsible for common areas and shared infrastructure such as terraces, external walls, and common plumbing lines, but not for internal plumbing, bathrooms, pipelines, or fixtures located inside individual flats. Where leakage originates from within a privately owned unit, the court said, the dispute is essentially between the affected owner and the owner of the flat causing the leakage — not a claim the society itself must answer.

What this means for housing societies

• Managing committees can point to this ruling when members demand the society pay for repairs to leakage traced to a neighbour's internal plumbing or fixtures.
• Societies should still act promptly on leakage complaints affecting common areas or structural elements, since liability there remains unchanged.
• Flat owners with a leakage dispute against another owner (not the society) may need to pursue the matter directly with that owner, including through the Co-operative Court if unresolved.
• Committees are advised to document, in writing, whether a reported leak originates from common infrastructure or from within a private flat, to support this liability distinction if disputes escalate.

The ruling gives managing committees firmer legal ground to decline liability for purely internal plumbing defects, while reminding societies that their duty to maintain common areas and shared infrastructure remains fully in force.