New Delhi: In a ruling likely to resonate across India’s gated communities, a dispute over flower pots and football in a Bengaluru apartment complex has culminated in the Karnataka High Court limiting the powers of Apartment Owners’ Associations and recognising children’s fundamental right to play.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar last month, overturned a 2021 Bengaluru trial court decision that had dismissed the grievances of two such apartment residents—and directed associations to reconsider arbitrary bans on physical games in playgrounds and affirmed residents’ right to safe common areas.
The aggrieved petitioners, Sangeetha Agrawal and Hemant Agrawal from Esteem Gardenia Apartment in North Bengaluru’s Sahakara Nagar, had submitted that their Apartment Owners’ Association had placed numerous flower pots on the stairways of the Primrose Block of the complex. These pots not only narrowed the walking space but made the floor “wet and slippery” when watered.
On 29 August, 2012, Sangeetha Agrawal suffered a serious fracture after slipping on the stairs, requiring multiple surgeries and the placement of implants. Despite repeated complaints and a legal notice, the association failed to permanently remove the obstruction, leading the couple to seek a mandatory injunction and damages.
In court, the association defended its actions by claiming the pots were placed based on a “majority decision” for improving the “aesthetics” of the building. The trial court had dismissed the Agrawals’ suit, holding that the petitioners had failed to establish any illegality in their placement.
The high court, however, found the association’s justification insufficient when it encroached upon the civil rights of residents.
Justice Sanjeevkumar noted that while the trial court acknowledged the stairways were common areas, it failed to view the safety risks “in a practical way”.
“When this being the fact is proved and the stairways are the common area and if this act of the defendant causes obstruction… then certainly the pots are to be removed,” the HC stated in its order.
The court held that keeping and watering pots in these areas inevitably leads to percolation, making floors slippery and infringing on the “right of free movement” of the plaintiffs.
A second crucial aspect of the appeal concerned the association’s decision to prohibit children from playing football and other physical games in the apartment playground. The ban imposed by the Esteem Gardenia Apartment Owners Association primarily targeted football and other physical games in the apartment’s playground area.
The association issued a circular resolution based on complaints from other residents, claiming that only certain games “suitable for the play area” were allowed.
However, the high court found the association’s stance to be vague and lacking clarification, as they failed to specify exactly which games were permitted and which were prohibited. In fact, the court took a stern view of such restrictions, characterising them as a violation of child rights.
Providing a strong defence for the physical development of minors, the order stated: “Playing games is a fundamental right of children and prohibiting the children from playing takes away their overall health.”
The court criticised the association’s vague rules regarding which games were “suitable”, noting that such arbitrary bans deprive children of the use of areas specifically meant for them.
Setting aside the trial court’s 2021 decree, the HC issued a mandatory injunction ordering the association to remove all pots from stairways and common areas. It also granted a perpetual injunction restraining the association from placing any materials in corridors that are meant for the common use of all flat owners.
Regarding the playground, the association has been directed to convene a General Body Meeting within three months to reconsider its ban. The court mandated that the association must “take confidence of the members” and ensure that “children should not be deprived of playing games in the play area”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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