Justice Manmohan, in his ruling, specified that the house need not be self-acquired or owned by the parents.
"As long as the parents have the legal
possession of the property, they can evict their abusive adult
children," the court said, adding that even the "courts have repeatedly
acknowledged the right of senior citizens or parents to live peacefully and with dignity".
This is a major improvisation in a 2007 law that had
left it to state governments to frame rules to protect the life and
property of senior citizens.
The court's verdict came after it heard an appeal filed
by an alcoholic former policeman and his brother, challenging a
Maintenance Tribunal's October 2015 order to evict the two from the
residence where their elderly and ailing parents lived.
The brothers had contended that the tribunal had
exceeded its jurisdiction in passing the eviction order as there was no
claim for maintenance and the relief was granted only on the allegations
of physical assault, maltreatment, harassment and forceful ouster of
their parents from the property.
The alcoholic, whose services were terminated from Delhi Police,
had said that even in cases of parental abuse, no eviction order could
be passed under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior
Citizens Act 2007.
The court, while interpreting the provisions of the
Act, said the "senior citizens' maintenance tribunal can issue eviction
order to ensure that senior citizens live peacefully in their house
without being forced to accommodate a son who physically assaults and
mentally harasses them or threatens to dispossess them".
In its 51-page judgement, the court noted that the
directions to evict the adult children from the property was necessary
in certain cases like the present one, to ensure a normal life for
senior citizens.
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