India, May 10 -- In a significant ruling strengthening the rights of homebuyers, the Bombay high court (HC) on Friday held that a developer's failure to complete a housing project within the stipulated time cannot be used as a reason to deny flat owners their right to deemed conveyance under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963.

Deemed conveyance refers to the legal transfer of land and building title from the builder to the housing society, even without the builder's cooperation, once the society is formed and other legal conditions are met.

Justice Amit Borkar, presiding over a single-judge bench, passed the order while allowing a petition filed by an association of three cooperative housing societies. The group had challe...