The chambers are in Malad West, in Malwani MHADA, and most of the work that comes through them starts within a few kilometres of the door. This page sets out what an enquiry from Malad usually concerns, where the matter is actually decided, and how to arrange a consultation.
Trust and Charity Commissioner work from Malad
Malad and Malwani have a dense concentration of small public trusts, community organisations, educational bodies and religious institutions, many of them registered decades ago and run since by a second or third generation of trustees. The questions that follow are predictable: a founding trustee has died and nobody reported it; the trust owns a plot or a room and wants to sell or let it; the accounts have not been filed for years; two branches of a family disagree about who is properly in office.
All of that runs through the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. Registering the trust in the first place is a Section 18 application and a Section 19 inquiry. Recording a change of trustees or property is a change report under Section 22. Selling or leasing trust property needs prior sanction under Section 36. Keeping the file clean year to year is accounts, audit and filing. Where the board itself is split, it becomes a trustee dispute.
One point worth understanding early: none of this is decided in Malad. Trust matters for Greater Mumbai are dealt with at the office of the Charity Commissioner at Worli, whichever suburb the trust sits in. Being registered in Malwani does not give a trust a local counter; it means somebody has to be at Worli when the matter is listed.
Societies, and the difference that matters
A good many Malad organisations were set up as societies rather than trusts, and the founders often no longer remember which. In Maharashtra a charitable society carries both registrations — under the Societies Registration Act and under the Public Trusts Act — so it has committee elections to run and change reports to file. If you are not certain which your organisation is, the register extract will say, and it is worth checking before a bank or a funder asks. See society registration.
GST and business registrations
Malad West and Malad East both carry a large number of small traders, shopkeepers, contractors and service businesses. The usual needs are a new GST registration or one for a proprietorship, an amendment when the address or the business changes, a cancellation when a business closes, and help when a notice arrives. The registration work is done on the portal and does not depend on where either party sits; the notices are the part that benefits from being read carefully rather than answered in a hurry.
NGO DARPAN and the registrations that follow
Organisations in and around Malwani that want government grants or CSR funding usually need NGO DARPAN registration with NITI Aayog, and then the income tax side — registration under Section 12A and approval under Section 80G. These are separate from the Charity Commissioner’s file and are often left until a funder asks, which is the worst moment to start.
Criminal, civil and family matters
Alongside the registration work, enquiries from Malad concern anticipatory bail and bail, police complaints, encroachment and other property disputes, and matters concerning women and family — proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act, maintenance, and divorce. Women from Malwani and the surrounding area often prefer to speak to a woman advocate about these, which is a large part of why the chambers are where they are.
Getting to chambers
Malwani MHADA lies west of Link Road, off Marve Road. From Malad station on the Western line it is a bus or rickshaw ride west; from Link Road the turning is well known locally. Consultations are held at chambers rather than at court, so there is no need to travel to Worli or Dindoshi for a first discussion.
What to bring
- For a trust or society matter: the trust deed or memorandum, the registration number, the latest register extract, and the last set of audited accounts if there is one.
- For a GST matter: the registration certificate, the notice if one has been received, and the returns for the period in question.
- For a criminal matter: the FIR or complaint copy, any notice received, and the dates.
- For a family matter: the marriage documents and anything already filed or received.
If a document cannot be found, come anyway — a good deal can be reconstructed from the register and the department’s own records, and knowing what is missing is itself the first step.
Where appearances are made
Office of the Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra, Worli; the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Borivali; the City Civil and Sessions Court, Dindoshi, Goregaon; and the Family Court, Bandra.
Chambers and appointments
Chambers are at 704 Classic Building, Gate No. 8, Malwani MHADA, Malad (West), Mumbai 400095. Consultations are by appointment. To fix a time, telephone or send a message on WhatsApp to +91 99301 50560, or use the contact page.
Local guides for Malvani and Malad
- Malvani MHADA flats: transfer, old power-of-attorney sales and redevelopment
- Malvani and Malad West: which office handles what
- Borivali court: a practical guide for Malad and Malvani residents
- Society disputes in old MHADA colonies
Related guides
- MHADA Flat Transfer After the Allottee’s Death
- Selling or Buying a MHADA Flat: Lock-In, NOC and Transfer Fee
- Selling or Buying an SRA Flat: the 5-Year Lock-In
- Which Court Handles My Case? (Malad and Western Suburbs)
This page describes general procedure and is published for information only, in keeping with Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. It is not legal advice and does not solicit work. What applies to a particular matter depends on its own facts.