Karnataka High Court: Flat owners cannot claim exclusive rights to common amenities

The Karnataka High Court has ruled that flat owners cannot claim exclusive rights over common amenities like clubhouses, roads, and gates if their registered sale deeds allow residents of another project developed by the same builder to share them. Justice Jayant Banerji and Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju dismissed an appeal from two flat owners of the Arya Hamsa project in Bengaluru, who had objected to residents of the adjacent Arya Hamsa Grande project using their common facilities.

The court rejected the flat owners' argument under Section 11 of the Transfer of Property Act, which they said made any clause about sharing amenities invalid. The bench held that the flat owners' exclusivity was limited to their flats, and they had no absolute proprietary interest in common areas. The flat owners had lost the case earlier at the Karnataka RERA and its appellate tribunal.

Economictimes.indiatimes.com reports that the builder, Arya Gruha, developed both projects on separate land with separate sanctions. The Arya Hamsa project got its occupancy certificate in 2015, while Arya Hamsa Grande obtained its certificate in 2019. The flat owners had sought cancellation of the Grande project's registration under RERA, but the court upheld the builder's right to share amenities as per the sale deed.