Maharashtra Appellate Court Rules Housing Societies Not Liable for Leakage Inside Private Flats

9 July, 2026: In a significant judgment that clarifies the responsibilities of co-operative housing societies, the Maharashtra State Co-operative Appellate Court has ruled that housing societies cannot be held liable for water leakage or seepage caused by defects inside privately owned flats. The court observed that such disputes are primarily between the affected property owner and the owner of the flat from which the leakage originates.

The ruling came while dismissing an appeal filed by two shop owners against Raj Exotica Co-operative Housing Society in Mira Road. The appellate court upheld an earlier order of the Co-operative Court in Thane, refusing to grant interim relief.

In its order dated July 4, the court held that a housing society’s legal responsibility is limited to maintaining common areas and shared infrastructure. It clarified that internal plumbing, bathrooms, pipelines and fixtures within individual flats are the responsibility of the respective flat owners.

Dispute Over Leakage

The case was filed by shop owners Saroj Kumar B. Gupta and Vinod Kumar Gupta, who alleged that water leakage from Flat No. 103, owned by Pratima S. Srivastav, had been damaging their ground-floor shop since March 2022.

According to the appellants, repeated requests to repair the washroom in the flat above failed to resolve the issue, resulting in financial losses. They sought ₹5 lakh towards repair expenses, ₹1 lakh as compensation, and interim directions requiring either immediate repairs or the deposit of ₹1 lakh for restoration work.

The housing society informed the court that it had notified the flat owner after receiving the complaint but maintained that repairs inside a privately owned apartment did not fall within its jurisdiction.

An infrared thermographic survey conducted during the proceedings found severe seepage and indicated that the moisture appeared to originate from Flat No. 103. The report recommended repairs to the upstairs washroom to stop the leakage.

However, the appellate court held that while the technical report indicated the likely source of the seepage, it did not establish liability on the part of the housing society.

The court noted that directing the society to pay repair costs or undertake repairs at the interim stage would effectively amount to granting final relief before the matter is fully adjudicated.

It further observed that although the appellants relied on technical evidence, they had not sought an interim order directing the flat owner to repair the defective washroom. As a result, the court concluded that they had failed to establish a prima facie case for a mandatory interim injunction.

The judgment reiterates that co-operative housing societies are responsible only for the maintenance of common areas and shared infrastructure. Internal repairs, including plumbing, bathrooms and fixtures within private flats, remain the responsibility of individual flat owners.

The court also clarified that property owners affected by leakage from another flat may carry out the necessary repairs themselves and, if they later establish the source of the damage through legal proceedings, recover the repair costs from the owner of the flat responsible for the leakage.

The ruling is expected to provide greater legal clarity for housing societies and apartment owners across Maharashtra by defining the limits of a society’s maintenance responsibilities in disputes involving water leakage between privately owned units.