Mohali’s Pancham Society: After 15 years, 448 flat allottees gets ownership rights

In a major relief to around 448 flat allottees of Pancham Cooperative Society in Sector 68, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has after 15 years issued a notification giving them ownership rights, with the builder finally clearing pending land dues to the tune of ₹15 crore.

As per the notification, GMADA will only recover the principal amount of ₹4.46 crore proportionately from each member, which means each allottee has to pay around ₹45,000 to 1.20 lakh depending on the floor of the flat, as penal interest accumulated over the years has been completely waived off .

GMADA will now directly deal with the individual members and give them no dues certificates after they pay the outstanding amount. The Resident Welfare Association of the Pancham Society will be the interface between the members and GMADA.

Earlier, the owners were unable to sell the flats, as they did not have ownership rights. GMADA had allotted the land to the society in 2000 and possession of flats was given in January 2006.

At the time of possession of flats, the members were asked to pay an additional amount of ₹1.15 lakh for HIG flats and ₹72,000 for HIG super. The allottees paid the amount to the builder, who was to further pay it to GMADA, but the latter failed to do so. As a result, the ownership rights were held up. As per records, Pancham Society was to pay ₹4.49 crore as land dues to GMADA in 2005. With addition of interest, the figure rose to ₹7.79 crore in October 2006 and is now estimated to be around ₹15 crore.

In 2012, GMADA had issued a public notice regarding resuming land of Pancham Society, and in the same year, 225 members filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court against GMADA, registrar of the society and secretary housing. In 2019, the court ordered the registrar that recoveries be made from all those found guilty in various inquiries.

Vineet Malik, area councillor, said the credit of ownership right goes to MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu. “It is a welcome step as we have been fighting for ownership for more than a decade. However, as of now, we haven’t got any official intimation,” he said.

One of the allottees, Rajesh Moza, said that members have fought long battle against the builders and managing committee members of the society, who siphoned away crores of rupees as per the findings of the special audit report prepared by government auditors. These findings were corroborated by the enquiry committee set up by the Registrar Cooperative Society, he said.