Elderly Parents And Abusive Children: Can They Be Forced To Live Together? HC Says No

The Senior Citizen Act 2007 lays down rules to protect from abuse and ensure that they are taken care of by children or other legal heirs. It also provides for a maintenance amount for elderly parents in the absence of any source of income. However, it is not a mandatory requirement for the elderly to live with the child who is paying the maintenance. In a recent case, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court provided relief to an elderly mother who was living with her daughter because her (mother's) adopted son was not keeping her. Justice RM Joshi dismissed a writ petition filed by the son, who challenged a previous order by the sub-divisional officer (SDO) that directed him to pay a monthly maintenance of Rs 10,000 to her mother.

The mother is a 77-year-old senior citizen who filed a request before the Maintenance Tribunal under the Senior Citizens Act seeking maintenance from her adopted son. The woman had no source of income. Allegedly, her son has taken away her ornaments and forced her to leave the house. This is the reason the septuagenarian widow came to her daughter to live with. However, due to the poor financial condition of her daughter, she had to work as a labour to survive.

In her request for maintenance, the Maintenance Tribunal fixed monthly maintenance of Rs 2,000 on April 4, 2023, to be paid by multiple respondents each. However, on December 26, 2023, the collector revised the order and directed that monthly maintenance of Rs 10,000 be paid only by the son.

Arguments

The son filed a writ petition against the order. His counsel argued that though the son was adopted, he never lived with the mother. Instead, he always lived with his biological parents. The other argument was that the elderly mother has agricultural land and she can sustain herself with that.

The counsel argued that the elderly woman had a piece of land that she had sold for ‘valuable consideration’. The petitioner argued that he was always ready to take care of the elderly mother provided she stayed with him, but she was living with her daughter.

On the other hand, the counsel for the elderly mother supported the Rs 10,000 per month maintenance order.

Court Observation

The court noted that there was no dispute that the woman had adopted the son. The court said once the son has been given in adoption, he becomes just like a biological child and he would carry all the rights and obligations of the biological son of the elderly mother.

On the contention of not including daughters for maintaining the mother, the court held, “The Act does not mandate filing of any proceedings against all children or any particular child.”

It is the parent’s sole discretion to include one child or all, to ask for maintenance. The Court observed the poor financial condition of the daughter and rejected the argument that the daughter also has to be included in the maintenance request.

Court’s Order

The court also referenced other judgements and held that staying with children is not a condition for getting maintenance. It held, “We cannot ignore the realities of life that there could be situations in which senior citizens are physically or emotionally abused by children and in those circumstances they cannot be compelled to share household with abusive children. Imposition of such condition would be contrary to the intent of legislature in bringing Senior Citizen Act on statute book.”  

The court dismissed the son’s petition.