IN a housing scoiety, it is expected that all residents live in harmony and help each other. However Mr Bari's owned a ground floor flat in a housing society in Kalyan had to suffer a lot because of the first floor flat owner. Since July 2012, Bari and his wife, who live in flat C-1/904 in Khadakpada, Kalyan (West), have been dealing with water leakage issues coming from the flat above them (C-1/1004).This first floor flat (C-1/1004) was previously owned by Mr Bhandari and Bari alleges that before selling the flat, Bhandari carried out some civil works involving the floor tiles of his bathroom and this the reason of the water leakage. So back then Bari had informed the housing society about this, but the society failed to act on it.However, in September 2014, , Bhandari sold the flat to Mr and Mrs Talreja. But to make matters worse, when the Talreja family started living in this flat (C-1/1004) the water leakeage problem got worse and thus Bari had to again go and complain to the housing society. This time, the housing society responded and arranged for repairs that cost Rs 4,500, which were completed on May 22, 2016. Bari offered to cover the entire cost.At that time, it seemed that the solution put forth by the housing society was working. However, in 2018 this illusion broke and the water leakeage issue resurfaced. This time however, Bari decided to talk directly with Talreja and hoped to solve it himself. Bari called his contractor and got the repair work done in Talreja's flat. This repair work costed Bari Rs 36,750.The last repairwork seemed to stop the water leakeage issue for sometime, but then again the problem resurfaced after a few years. Meanwhile, on September 29, 2018, for unknown reasons, the housing society passed a resolution in their annual general body meeting, which essentially said that all expenses for repair work of water leakages would be borne equally by both the flat owners.After 2018, the repairwork could not be done again as Talreja refused to let repairmen inside his flat and thus the water leakeage issue remained unresolved since 2018. So Bari filed a case in court. On September 4, 2026 Bari won the case in Maharashtra Co-operative Appellate Court after a 8 years fight (2018-2026).Talreja claimed in court that he was not against solving the water leakage issue but the work done by Bari’s contractors in 2018 had caused heavy damage to his flooring tiles, causing substantial financial loss.Talreja said that he resided in the premises (C-1/1004) along with elderly family members and a minor child, and that unrestricted access may adversely affect their privacy and his ability to live peacefully.Talreja also argued that the water leakage issue needed to be examined by an independent neutral structural auditor or architect appointed by the Society.Keep reading to know how Bari won the case in court despite objections from Talreja about repairmen working in his bathroom.Also read: Who pays for repair of leakage from a neighbour's bathroom? Maharashtra co-op court clarifies housing society's liabilityHow Bari won the case in court despite objections from Talreja?Advocate Sana Raees Khan, who practices in the Supreme Court of India and founder of SRK legal law firm said to ET Wealth Online, the Maharashtra State Co-operative Appellate Court ruled in favour of Mr. Bari, as there was a case in his favour, and the conference who was matter of fact in favour of Mr. Bari and stated to him that the stoppage of repair for the right owners migh result in great amount of loss.Mr. Bari’s flat, No. C-1/904 leaked water from flat No. C-1/1004, the flat just above Mr. Bari’s flat.The problem had gone on for too long and has resulted in damage to the property all the time. Khan says that the Court considered the concerns put forth by the respective flat owners especially about privacy and safety. Thus the court agreed to let an independent engineer do this work.Thus, an independent engineer came into picture after the flat owner complained about their privacy and safety.Accoridng to Khan, the independent engineer's report again confirmed the leakage but could not identify the source of the leakage. So on this ground the flat owners of C-1/1004 refused again to allow the workers to carryout the repair work.This time Khan says that the court observed that there are certain bye-laws available for the society members to cooperate on the repair and that there is already an AGM resolution passed for sharing the repair expenses. Thus, the Trial Court’s order allowing the repair work to happen was upheld by the Maharashtra Co-operate appellate court and therefore, the appeal was dismissed.Also read:Builder must fix recurring water leakage permanently, but homeowner can't dictate which contractor or brand to use: Karnataka RERA gives relief to Bengaluru top-floor flat ownerMaharashtra Co-operative Appellate Court discussionSociety appointed an independent engineer to inspect the issueDuring the time the case was going on in court, Bari, Talreja and the society decided that an independent examination of the premises would be conducted by an engineer/architect suggested by Talreja.So an independent engineer was appointed from the list of names suggested by Talreja. The engineer visited the premises and submitted his report in a sealed envelope to the court.The Maharashtra Co-operative Appellate Court broke the seal, opened the report and analysed it. The report showed that there were leakages in Bari’s flat, however, the report was silent as to the source of the leakage.Hearing this, Talreja again reiterated before the court that he will not allow anybody to carry out repair work in his premises as it disturbed his privacy and the safety of his family members and may result in further damages to his flat.The Maharashtra Co-operative court said that Bari cannot be made to live in such a condition, and so Talreja must allow repair work to be carried out in his flat so that Bari and his family can get relief from the water leakage problem.The court said that they expect Talreja and the society to co-operate with Bari as prima facie it looks like the water leakage issue is coming from Talreja’s flat.Also read: Homebuyer finds water leakages and seepage issues weeks after buying flat; Telangana RERA orders builder to relay terrace flooring, carry out waterproofing workRepair expenses of water leakage issue will be shared between flat owners as per society resolutionThe Maharashtra Co-operative Appellate Court said that as per the bye-laws, all repairs except those mentioned in Bye-law No.159(a) are to be carried out by the members at their own cost.As per record, even in the resolution passed in the AGM held on September 29, 2024, it was decided that the burden of repair expenses for the leakages will be shared equally by both the flat owners.The Maharashtra Co-operative Court said that this resolution is binding on both Talreja and Bari.Bari told the trial court that he is ready to bear the cost of repairs. Now it is up to Talreja to follow the Maharashtra Co-operative court order.