The Senior Citizen Act was enacted to protect the interest of senior citizens and it ensures that they are not left destitute or at the mercy of their children/ relatives. The Domestic Violence Act, 2005, protects the right of a woman. Both sets of legislation have to be harmoniously construed. In a recent judgment[i], the High Court held “The right of a woman to secure a residence order in respect of a shared household cannot be defeated by the simple expedient of securing an order of eviction by adopting the summary procedure under the Senior Citizens Act 2007.”
Senior Citizens Act, 2007
This Act makes it clear and makes legal obligation for children and other heirs to provide proper maintenance to senior citizens and parents. It clarifies that parents are obliged to be maintained by their children and in no manner, children can shy away from their duty towards their parents. This Act also provides a simple, speedy, and inexpensive mechanism for the protection of life and property of older persons.
The provisions of the Act clarify that if in case children fail to take care of their aged parents then in such a case parents may revoke the gift. In 2017, Punjab and Haryana High Court/ Delhi High Court[ii] held that elderly parents can take back a share in their property given to a son as a gift if he fails to look after them or harass them. If the share in the property by a senior citizen is transferred through a gift deed to children based on the condition that their basic needs will be fulfilled. If later on, the person refuses to maintain the agreement, then a maintenance Tribunal is to be empowered to cancel the agreement.
Harassed parents can evict their children from any type of property
Delhi High Court[iii] has ruled that harassed parents can evict their children from any type of property. It has further clarified that elderly parents who are being ill-treated by their children can evict them. After an amendment in the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Rules, 2017, that provides that “seniors can apply for eviction of their son, daughter and legal heir from the property of any kind movable or immovable, ancestral or self-acquired, tangible or intangible”. Parents could evict their abusive children from their property, adding that maintenance Tribunals can issue eviction orders.
In the case of Sachin and Anr. v. Jhabbu Lal and Anr.[iv], The Delhi High Court has ruled that a son, irrespective of his marital status, has no legal right to live in his parents’ house, and can reside there only at their mercy. Merely because the parents have allowed him to live in the house so long as his relations with the parents were cordial, does not mean that the parents have to bear his burden throughout his life.’
Domestic Violence Act
‘Domestic violence is a contradiction in terms. For every human being, home fulfills the basic need of safety – shelter. The priority for a person when settling down in life is creating a shelter by owning a house. However, for women this very house can be a threat to their safety, dignified living, in fact, sometimes, a threat to their very existence. The threat is so grave that the legislature has been compelled to enact special legislation for their protection— the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Even before the passing of the Act, remedies were available under the penal laws of the country to deal with domestic violence. But the same was not efficacious. This legislation was brought into force as an attempt to translate into reality the Constitutional guarantee of gender equality and the right to live with dignity.
The Act seeks to achieve this objective by-
- Defining “domestic violence” and connected terms;
- Providing machinery to file reports and complaints regarding domestic violence;
- Conferring powers on the Court to pass orders for the protection of the victims of domestic violence and also for adequately compensating them;
- The Act is a piece of civil legislation.
Now we will discuss the intention of the court to maintain a balance between the Domestic Violence Act and the Senior Citizen Act.
Domestic Violence Act v. Senior Citizen Act[v]
We have seen above that the courts in India have passed judgments stating that the aged parents can evict their children from their property. However, very recently the High Court of Gujarat has passed a judgment in the case of Jagdeepbhai Chandulal Patel v. Reshma Ruchin Patel[vi] wherein Justice Ashokkumar C Joshi stated that a woman’s entitlement to obtain a dwelling order for a shared household under the Domestic Violence Act cannot be overridden by an eviction order issued under the Senior Citizens Act.
In the instant matter, the petitioner was an elderly citizen whose son was abroad. He accused his daughter-in-law of illegally trespassing on his property, and made him relocate. The petitioner claimed that he was entitled to the house under the Senior Citizens Act and hence, he demanded the daughter-in-law’s eviction from his property. She argued that under the Domestic Violence Act, she was entitled to a shared household in her matrimonial home and hence cannot be evicted. After his injunction plea was denied by the Family Court in Ahmedabad, the petitioner went to the High Court.
Passing a judgment in favor of the daughter-in-law (the respondent) the court further clarified that permitting the Senior Citizens Act 2007 to have an overriding effect in all situations, irrespective of competing entitlements of a woman to a right in a shared household under the Domestic Violence Act 2005, would defeat the purpose of the Parliament which sought to safeguard married woman.
The High Court put reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in S Vanitha v. Deputy Commissioner[vii], wherein it held that a woman’s right to obtain a dwelling order in a shared household could not be denied by the simple expedient of obtaining an eviction order under the Senior Citizens Act’s short procedure.
Conclusion
We have seen above that the Senior Citizen Act was enacted to ensure the protection of senior citizens from any kind of harassment, specifically by their children. On the other hand, the Domestic Violence Act aims to provide for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. However, in the aforesaid judgment passed by the High Court, the balance between the two Acts has not been achieved successfully.
A married woman indeed has a dwelling right in a shared household after marriage on the contrary due consideration should be given to the fact that the Senior Citizens are also being harassed by their sons and daughters-in-law. The property that they have hard-earned throughout their life they don’t have the right to reside there peacefully, how this can be justified? This judgment has definitely diluted the aim and objective of the Senior Citizens Act. Harassment of aged parents and senior citizens is a matter of concern and while passing any judgment their safety and protection should also be taken into consideration.
[i]https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/jagdeepbhaichandulalpatelvsreshmaruchinpatelgujarat-hc-407871.pdf
[ii] https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/elderly-parents-can-take-back-property-gifted-to-son-on-ill-treatment-bombay-hc-1287763-2018-07-17
[iii] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/real-estate/money-relationships-can-your-parents-evict-you-from-their-house/articleshow/70304423.cms?from=mdr
[iv] AIR 2017 Delhi 1
[v] https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/woman-right-reside-shared-household-dv-act-defeated-summary-eviction-proceedings-senior-citizens-act-gujarat-hc-189833
[vi] 2022 LiveLaw (Guj) 2
[vii] 2020 SCC OnLine SC 1023
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