The Delhi High Court has upheld the validity of rules allowing elderly parents and senior citizens to approach the District Magistrate (DM) for eviction of children or legal heirs from their property in cases involving non-maintenance or ill-treatment.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia held that Rule 22(3)(1) of the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2009 provides a mechanism to protect senior citizens from suffering caused by non-maintenance and ill-treatment.
The Court said the provision derives its authority from Sections 22 and 32 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and therefore cannot be declared ultra vires.
Section 22 empowers the State government to prescribe measures for protecting the life and property of senior citizens, while Section 32 confers rule-making powers on the government. Concluding its findings, the High Court dismissed the challenge, holding that the petitioner’s objections to Rule 22(3)(1)(i) and (iv) of the 2009 Rules lacked legal standing and were accordingly rejected.
The judgment came in a plea filed by Punam, who challenged an eviction order passed by the Divisional Commissioner of Delhi in favour of her mother-in-law. Punam argued that the Senior Citizens Act does not expressly provide for eviction proceedings and that the Delhi government’s rules went beyond the rule-making powers conferred by the legislation.
She also contended that the provisions violated Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution and conflicted with a woman’s right to reside in a shared household under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Punam submitted that she had married the senior citizen’s son in 1996 and that the couple had two children. Following matrimonial disputes, she initiated proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act seeking protection of her right to reside in her mother-in-law’s property.
Her mother-in-law subsequently sought her eviction under the 2009 Rules.
The District Magistrate rejected the eviction application in February 2021. However, on appeal, the Divisional Commissioner allowed the mother’s plea in July 2022 and directed Punam to vacate the property.
The High Court upheld the eviction order.
The Bench noted that Punam was employed as a postgraduate teacher, had a substantial income and also owned a separate house.
It further held that her claim to reside in the shared household was not absolute and had to be balanced against her mother-in-law’s right to live peacefully in her own property.
The Court accordingly dismissed Punam’s plea and upheld both the validity of the relevant provisions and the eviction order passed against her.
The post Delhi High Court upholds law allowing senior citizens to seek eviction of children from their property appeared first on India Legal.