Can nomination be considered as final authorization to sell the flat

444 votes

The nomination made in 1989 transferred the flat to your name. However, according to the latest Supreme Court judgement on transfer of flat to nominee, Indrani Wahi v Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Other (2016) the nominee only holds the shares and interest in the society as a trustee until the property is transferred and vested in favour of the legal heirs under the provisions of law.

In this case, the society's lawyer is claiming that you are not the owner of the flat but rather a trustee, and they are requesting a letter of succession and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the legal heirs of your grandmother. This suggests that the society is seeking compliance with the due process mentioned in the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which requires the legal heirs to provide relevant testamentary documents, succession certificate, legal heirship certificate, probate, or letters of administration.

Technically, there is no such specified time limit within which the nominee has to transfer the proceeds to the legal heirs. Rather, the main concept of having a nominee is to just ensure that the deceased?s estate doesn?t remain ownerless during the period when succession disputes are being resolved.�Thus, in the event of settlement of the succession disputes, the nominee is bound to transfer all the assets to the legal heirs.�

LawRato LawRato

517 votes

Upon the owner’s death, the society must transfer the flat and shares in the society to the owner’s nominee(s). Therefore, if the nominee in respect of your brother’s flats, the society would be bound to transfer the flats to the nominee. However, by virtue of the nomination or the transfer of the flat/shares to the nominee, the nominee herself does not become the owner of the flat/shares or become entitled to sell/transfer the flat to any third party. The purpose of the nomination is to make certain the person with whom the society has to deal with. The true owners of the flat/shares are the legal heirs of the deceased person and the flat/shares can be sold only by such legal heirs (or with their consent); the role of the nominee is to hold the flat in trust for such legal heirs.
But the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgement on nomination on March 10, 2016. In the case of Indrani Wahi versus Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Others, it held that the nominee of a deceased member is entitled to ownership by transfer, if she is a relative of the deceased person, who made the nomination in her name, according to the record of the cooperative society. And the co-operative society cannot challenge the right of nominee. And for this, no legal heirship, court order or succession certificate or letter of administration is required. This judgement pertains to West Bengal and Section 79 of the West Bengal Cooperative societies Act 1983 and Rule 127 of the West Bengal Cooperative Society Rules 1987. It also depends upon the state in which you are living in.

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato

138 votes

The Nominee does not have the right of ownership and has no transferable rights. The right to transfer property is a part of the ownership rights, so if there is not ownership, then there is also no transfer right.

Advocate Chikirsha Mohanty LawRato