MUMBAI, Nov. 5 -- Cooperative housing societies no longer need a 'No Objection Certificate' from the registrar of cooperative societies when redeveloping their old buildings, as per a state circular issued on Tuesday. State cooperation commissioner Deepak Taware said, "We issued the circular as per high court guidelines and this will bring transparency in the redevelopment." The high court's order stems from a case between members of the Bandra Nisha Cooperative Housing Society and the deputy registrar of cooperative societies, H-West Ward. Society members had approached the court when the redevelopment of their property was stalled due to a lack of permissions from the registrar. In an October 17 order, the court held that the role of the registrar is only to supervise redevelopment. The court held that as per the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, there is no provision authorising the registrar to grant a "No Objection" (NOC) for the redevelopment of a cooperative housing society. The court said that the general body of the cooperative housing society is the supreme decision-making authority in the redevelopment process. As per the order, a directive was sent to all officers of the cooperation department, highlighting that the registrar does not have the power to review, modify, or reject decisions taken by the society's general body. The state directive issued by Taware says that after receiving a redevelopment proposal from a housing society, the deputy registrar must appoint an authorised officer to oversee a special general body meeting in 14 days. Advocate Shreeprasad Parab, an expert in cooperation laws said, "This is a significant step towards strengthening the autonomy of cooperative housing societies, reducing scope for bureaucratic interference, and accelerating self-redevelopment ventures that are member-led and do not involve developers." Parab added that this move removes a major administrative hurdle that was often used to stall or delay projects....