How to Remove a Managing Committee Member in a Housing Society in Maharashtra

The exact text of the rules matters here, so check the current Act and Rules on the Maharashtra government site before you act. The steps below are the general flow as reported.

• Only committee members can move it. A no-confidence motion against an office-bearer is moved by elected committee members. Ordinary members outside the committee cannot move it. Reports mention a requisition signed by at least one-third of committee members entitled to vote, so confirm the current number.
• File the requisition in Form M-18. Rule 57-A calls for a requisition in Form M-18 with the grounds of no confidence, the text of the motion, and the names of the members who will move it.
• A special meeting is convened. The Registrar's office issues notice of a special meeting to every committee member, including the officer the motion is against. Keep proof of how and when each notice was delivered.
• A presiding officer runs the meeting. The person facing the motion should not control it. The presiding officer puts the motion to vote and declares the result, and does not give views on the merits of the motion.
• Quorum and vote. The meeting needs the required quorum, reported as two-thirds of the committee. The motion passes only with a two-thirds majority of the total committee members entitled to vote, not two-thirds of those present. Names of members voting for and against are read out.
• The result. If the motion passes, the office-bearer stops holding that post. The vacancy is filled by co-option or by election, depending on how much of the term is left. If the motion fails, no fresh no-confidence motion can come before the committee for one year.

In Madhavi Vilas Gosavi v. Rajesh Mishra (Writ Petition No. 6416 of 2026), decided in June 2026, the Bombay High Court set aside a no-confidence motion against a housing society chairman. The reason was procedure, not the strength of the grievance.

The committee had nine members when six of them moved against the chairman. Days before the meeting, the general body appointed a tenth member to a reserved seat and informed the Deputy Registrar. At the no-confidence meeting, that member was not given notice and did not vote. Six voted for, three against, and the Deputy Registrar treated six as two-thirds of nine and declared the post vacant.

The court disagreed. The newly appointed member was validly on the committee and had a right to notice and to vote. With ten members, two-thirds is 6.67, a fraction that cannot be rounded down, so at least seven votes were needed, not six. The motion, the election of the new chairman, and the Deputy Registrar's order were set aside, and the original chairman was restored. The court also said that because removal carries serious consequences, the rules on it must be read strictly.

Before you calculate two-thirds, get the committee's current and correct headcount. Count every validly appointed member, even one appointed days ago. Serve notice on all of them, whether or not you expect them to vote with you. Calculate on the total strength, not on those present.

A few examples help. For 9 members, two-thirds is exactly 6. For 10 members it is 6.67, so you need 7. For 11 it is 7.33, so you need 8. A motion built on a shaky headcount gets reversed even when most of the committee genuinely wanted the change. Check the latest reported text of the judgment before you rely on any detail.

If the issue is real misconduct, such as financial irregularities, diversion of funds, refusal to keep records or acting against members' interests, a member or group of members can approach the Registrar to seek removal under Section 78A. This is an inquiry, and the committee member concerned must get a fair chance to reply.

A 2022 Bombay High Court ruling, Kusum Ramesh Agarwal v. State Minister for Co-operation, is reported to require the Registrar to consult the federal society the housing society belongs to before ordering removal, though that opinion is not binding. Skipping it can get the order quashed. Expect this route to take months and not weeks.

A resolution passed in a WhatsApp group or at an unminuted gathering outside a formal special meeting removes nobody. Keeping a member out of meetings or committee work is also open to challenge, as the Gosavi case shows. And an angry majority of residents does not make six out of nine, or six out of ten, enough.

Treat a no-confidence motion as a paperwork exercise first and a vote second. Keep a clean list of validly appointed members with dates. Keep copies of every notice, signature and minute. Take legal advice on the exact majority and quorum for your society before you file the requisition, because one counting error can undo months of effort.