• Voting process in an apartment association

Good afternoon ,

I live in Pune and member of an apartment association registered under "The Maharashtra apartment ownership act, 1970". Our associations Board of Managers have recently passed a resolution in a meeting through a secret voting. I would like to know the following

1) whether secret vote is allowed by the law in such meetings I.e. Meeting of Board of Managers elected in an AGM.

2) if yes, can it be done in parts I.e. Regular meeting was in Morning and 6 people attended the same. Rest of the 3 people came in evening and did the voting at that time without it being a regular meeting.

3) can the resolution be passed without documenting the discussions & justification of the resolution.

4) how can such resolution be revoked by them.

5) in case they deny, what would be the course of action I should be following.
Asked 8 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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11 Answers

1)Voting shall be by raising of hands or by secret ballot, as the case may be

2) Date, time and place for voting etc shall formally be notified by the assocaition

3) all members present in the meeting should exercise right to vote

4) it cannot be done in parts

5) resolution can be passed without documenting the discussions and justifcation of resolution

6)resolution passed is binding on all members of the association . it cannot be revoked by them

7) check provisions of bye laws adopted by the assocation for legal action that can be taken in case you are aggrived by decision taken by the association

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97151 Answers
7843 Consultations

1. Secret voting is rarely done and in housing association cases it is unheard of. However if the bye laws so provides it can be done.

2. Again it can be done if allowed by bye laws of the society.

3 no

4. The registrar can on complain of flat owners revoke the resolution.

5. Depend on majority decision

5.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23262 Answers
515 Consultations

voting rights shall be govern by the bye-laws of the society. read the bye-laws of the society and if there is any confusion or you want any clarification then contact again.

Nadeem Qureshi
Advocate, New Delhi
6319 Answers
302 Consultations

1. Secret vote is unheard in such meetings which are meant for running the affairs of the Society though no where it has been mentioned that it is illegal.

2. No. There should be one meeting which should be minuted detailing the attendees.

3. No. The minutes of the meeting and also the resolution passed should be put in black and white to be signed by all the attendees.

4. If the procedure taken to pass the resolution is illegal, the managing committee can not legally implement the decision taken in the said resolution.

5. First ensure that they can not rectify the technical errors made by changing/amending the records/documents. After that report the matter to the Registrar. You can approach the High court also seeking order for quashing the said resolution, if te Registrar fails to act.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27482 Answers
726 Consultations

1. It is unheard of any where since it is for the welfare of the members of the society only and is not a political voting.

2. However, secret ballot in such case has not been restrained either. the perspective for arranging for such secret ballot is required to be known for further commenting on the matter.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27482 Answers
726 Consultations

k d kulkarni vs j n society 2011 SRC, secret voting is invalid because stricter rule laid down that a registered society is a legal entity it has neither a living mind nor voice. It can only express its will in a formal way by a formal resolution hence secret voting is not permitted.

Shivendra Pratap Singh
Advocate, Lucknow
5127 Answers
78 Consultations

The election procedure of any association is defends on its bye-laws, memorandum of articles and memorandum of association and the law contemplated. 1. if bye-lays permits the elections can be done by way of secrete ballot in AGM. 2. If no sufficient quorum at the time of election fixed, the election can be postponed for another day or for some time after same day. Still no quorum the election process can be completed, but, same thing must be mention in election notice issued by the election officer / election committee. 3. No, resolution cannot be passed without documentation and justification. 4. Any dispute related to association can be challenged before court of law. There are some Cooperative Tribunal constituted for this purposes. The election Process can be challenged before concerned Tribunal by way of Original Petition by a member of the association. 5. In case of deny, you have to file case before concerned Cooperative Tribunal or Civil Court of Law.

Lakshmi Kanth
Advocate, Hyderabad
446 Answers
15 Consultations

1. Ordinarily, voting is open and is done through raising of hands, but if there is a resolution passed by the majority members then voting can be through a secret ballot.

2. Voting cannot be made in parts.

3. A resolution can be passed without documenting the discussions and justification of resolution. There is no mandatory requirement of documenting the discussion.

4. Once the resolution is passed it can be revoked only by the majority vote.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30780 Answers
973 Consultations

voting can be by show of hands or secret ballot in a baord meeting

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97151 Answers
7843 Consultations

1. Secret ballot can be decided in a meeting if there are competition for various posts.

2. If the voting is done within the time specified then it is valid.

3. Resolution can be passed by majority of people accepting the same.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87353 Answers
2347 Consultations

ust to check again...Voting in a Board meeting (Not AGM) of Board of Managers (BOM) can be secret voting?

You may check the bye laws on this and confirm the same.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87353 Answers
2347 Consultations

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