Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act Does Not Entail Children’s House Eviction: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court recently ruled that the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007 does not encompass the authority to evict children from a property based solely on their parents’ plea.

The enactment of this law was intended to guarantee the upkeep and well-being of parents and senior citizens, as elucidated by Justice Shree Prakash Singh in a decision wherein an order from the Sultanpur district magistrate was set aside. The said order had directed the police to remove the petitioner (son) from his parents’ residence and shop based on their entreaty.

The single bench made the remarked while hearing a writ petition filed by Krishna Kumar.

“An authority under the Act of 2007 cannot direct eviction from the property at the instance of senior citizens, though it can direct the children and relatives to make available a residence to such senior citizens/parents on their plea,” the bench observed.

Krishna Kumar challenged the directive by the Sultanpur district magistrate on November 22, 2019, directing him to vacate his parents’ residence and shop. In his plea, the petitioner alleged that his parents were displeased with him due to his inter-caste marriage. Subsequently, his parents invoked the 2007 Act and submitted an application before the tribunal established under it, seeking his expulsion from the house and shop. The tribunal’s presiding officer, the relevant subdivisional magistrate, passed judgment on July 8, 2019, directing the petitioner not to disturb his parents’ residence. Unsatisfied with this decision, the parents appealed to the district magistrate, who on November 22, 2019, issued an eviction order against the petitioner.

During the hearing, Justice Singh observed that the property was quite spacious, housing various shops on the ground floor. The petitioner and his wife resided in a single room, with the petitioner also running a shop, which was his primary source of livelihood. The remaining portion of the property was in the mother’s possession, as the petitioner’s father passed away during the course of litigation. The mother cohabited with her married daughters on the premises.

Furthermore, the mother received a monthly rent of Rs 26,500 from the shops, and the petitioner also paid Rs 4,000 per month for maintenance, as decreed by a family court in favor of his parents.

Considering the overarching aim of the 2007 Act, the bench concluded that the parents were being adequately cared for in this particular situation. Therefore, the provisions of the Act could not be employed as a means to evict the petitioner from the property.

The bench nullified the district magistrate’s order and granted the mother the liberty to file a suitable application for maintenance and welfare under the Act, if she so desired.