India, Oct. 26 -- The Bombay High Court recently intervened to stop the division of a 620 sq ft apartment into two units in a suburban Mumbai housing society, agreeing with the society's claim that the split was carried out 'illegally'.

The interim order was issued after the housing society approached the court, alleging that one of its members had converted a single flat into two units without obtaining the mandatory permissions from the civic and concerned authorities. The court observed that such alterations not only violated the original sale agreement, under which the property was registered as one unit, but also posed potential structural and safety risks to the building.

According to the petition of the housing society, the flat ...