Disputed Noida Flats: Supreme Court Appoints Ex-HC Judge to Identify Genuine Flat Buyers

Stepping in to resolve an intractable real estate standoff that has lingered for years, the Supreme Court of India has appointed Justice Sudhir Kumar Saxena, former judge of the Allahabad High Court, as a one-member, high-powered independent committee. The judicial panel has been tasked with investigating the rightful claims, scrutinizing property transaction trails, and finalizing the definitive list of genuine beneficiaries entitled to multi-storey apartments in Noida. The apex court noted with concern that despite explicit previous judicial directions, the longstanding ownership dispute concerning the Central Employees Cooperative Housing Society has remained locked in administrative gridlock.

Contradictory Figures and Historical Allotment Turmoil Since 1998

The roots of the dispute trace back to earlier rounds of litigation in 2022, when the Supreme Court instructed the Noida administration to hand over multi-storey apartments to 844 verified members of the housing society, while ordering a parallel inquiry into the legal standing of 133 secondary buyers who had acquired units downstream. However, during subsequent proceedings, the figures presented before the bench became thoroughly contradictory, with the count of original allottees shifting to 863 and subsequent purchasers dropping to 120. This stark data discrepancy deepened the administrative confusion, making an independent fact-finding mechanism imperative.

Noida Authority vs. Society: Legal Battle Over Transfer Restrictions

The standoff features sharp legal antagonism between the local civic body and the housing society. The Noida authority strongly opposed granting formal ownership recognition to secondary and subsequent buyers, citing statutory transfer bans on subsidized cooperative allocations alongside the cancellation of the original land and plot allotment dating back to 1998. Countering the authority's stance, the housing society argued before the apex court that the Noida administration had deliberately failed to process legitimate, timely transfer applications submitted by bonafide purchasers over the years, leaving genuine homebuyers stranded in legal limbo.

Full Powers Granted to Justice Saxena to Determine Claims and End Deadlock

To cut through the conflicting claims and bureaucratic delay, the Supreme Court has invested Justice Saxena with full autonomy to devise his own procedural rules, requisition and examine all primary property deeds and civic records, and conduct individual hearings with all affected claimants. The judicial committee will demarcate the bonafide rights of original cooperative members versus subsequent purchasers, delivering a final binding report that will establish lawful possession and bring long-awaited clarity to hundreds of disputed residential flat owners across Noida.