Bombay HC orders eviction of abusive son from parents’ flat – Hindustan Times

The Bombay high court (HC) ordered a Santacruz resident to be evicted from the flat of his 90-year-old father and 89-year-old mother on the grounds of harassing the elderly couple with an intention to grab the premises. A single judge bench of justice Girish Kulkarni rejected the petition by the Santacruz resident after noticing that his aged parents were suffering at the hands of their only son and his wife.

“This is a classic case where the petitioner intends to prevent his parents from leading a normal life at their old age,” said justice Kulkarni.

Noticing that this was a case of old parents suffering at the hands of their only son and his wife, the court observed, “It appears that there is certainly some element of truth in the popular saying that daughters are daughters forever and sons are sons till they are married.”

The petitioner had moved the Bombay HC challenging the October 21, 2020 order of the Senior Citizens Tribunal, directing him and his wife to vacate the Santacruz (West) apartment of his parents in 30 days, after noticing that the elderly couple was being harassed for years.

His lawyer pointed out that in February 2010, the petitioner’s mother had filed a complaint under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DC) Act, and in the final order passed on it in January 2016, the magistrate court had clearly that the complainant was not be entitled to orders evicting her son and daughter-in-law from the flat. He submitted that the tribunal could not have passed the eviction order in view of the magistrate’s observations.

The HC, however, noted that the magistrate himself had noted that the aged parents were living in terror and suffering at the hands of the son and daughter-in-law. The magistrate had seen strong possibility of dispossession of the aged couple and had passed protection orders.

Justice Kulkarni also noted that the son owned three residential premises — two in Navi Mumbai and one at Dahisar, but was insisting on staying at the Santacruz flat.

The Bombay HC, therefore, rejected the petition observing that the provisions of the Senior Citizens Act are required to be construed to take within the ambit of maintenance all facets that would aid the senior citizens to lead a normal life and would certainly include the senior citizen’s right to property.

Besides, the court said, the flat was not an ancestral property on which the son can claim any legal right so as to keep himself on such property along with his family and foist themselves on the parents against their wishes. “This itself is a harassment and/or defeating the parents right to lead a normal life,” said the court.