Date of Judgment:
9th March 2022.
Bench:
Kesang Doma Bhutia, J.
Parties:
Petitioner – Piyali Tewari Dey.
Respondent – Baidyanath Dey & Ors.
Subject
The High Court of Calcutta in an instant case while deciding a matter regarding maintenance and welfare of Parents and Seniors Citizens, observed the dynamic relations of ever-changing human nature in the present society, while directing a daughter to enable her aging parents to live with her in a residential property granted to her by her parents and to refrain from alienating the disputed flat during the lifetimes of both her parents, she was also directed to pay Rs.10,000 in maintenance to satisfy her parents’ basic requirements and medical expenditures.
Legal Provisions
- Article 227 of the Constitution of India – states that each High Court shall have authority over all courts and tribunals in the territories in which it practices (apart from a court shaped under a law relatedto military or armed forces).
- Section 4 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 – states that an elderly individual, including a parent, who is unable to support himself from his earnings or property might apply for maintenance. The Act further says that if the individual seeking maintenance is a father or grandparent, he may do so against one or more of his minor children.
- Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act– states that the scenarios and/or circumstances in which the transfer of property shall be ruled 'invalid'.
Overview
- In this instant petition, the petitioner was aggrieved by the cancellation of the gift deed executed in her name by her father in respect of it being a family house.
- The Hon’ble High Court directing the learned ADM(Add. District Magistrate) to transfer back the executed sale deed back to its original donor Opposite party no. 1(Mr. Baidyanath Dey) under section 4 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act.
- The brief facts of the case are that the daughter who used to live with her parents and before her marriage out of love and affection her father (opposite party no.1) to have gifted a flat by executing a registered deed of gift on 10th July 2017.
- After the petitioner’s marriage, her relations with her parents were strained, and subsequently, she had kicked them out for said reasons of opposing her marriage, for which the father(opposite party no.1) had to file an application U/s. 4 of the Act,2007 for seeking maintenance and for cancellation of the gift deed executed by him in 2017.
- Consequently, the learned ADM(Additional District Magistrate) upon inquiry directed the cancellation of the registered gift deed and ordered his son to pay monthly maintenance of Rs. 5000(Rupees Five Thousand Only).
Issues
- Whether the executed gift deed in favour of the daughter /petitioner by her father can be cancelled by the order given by the Maintenance Tribunal?
Judgment
- The Hon’ble Court observed that due to western influences a lot of aged senior citizens are seeking shelter outside of their normal places of residence because of torture and mental harassment inflicted by their children they often seek help from NGOS’s and old age homes to maintain them in such a fragile age.
- Furthermore, the court placed reliance on its judgments given by the Hon’ble Division Bench in the case of Zen Acharya v. Dr. Sanjib Mukherjee, where it was held that when the gift deed for transfer of immovable property has been executed by the parents in favour of their children then such deed for transfer cannot be declared null & void by the Tribunal, and only in cases wherein the executed deed for transfer of immovable property where is it specifically mentioned that the child in whose favour the deed is being executed is liable to maintain their parents and provide them with basic amenities then such cancellation can be upheld.
- The held that the gift deed is not conditional to the provisions of Section 23 of the MWPSA Act,2007 thus holding that the cancellation of the gift deed by the Tribunal is not maintainable.
- Likewise, the court also took note of the fact that the parents of the aggrieved petitioner not only gifted her the family house but also out of love and affection, bought her a separate property in the year 2012. These facts were taken into consideration by the court to provide relief to the opposite party no.1(father).
- Thus, the Court directed the petitioner to provide shelter to her parents in the family flat where they were initially residing and further directed the petitioner as well as the son of the opposite party no.1 to pay Rs. 10,000 per month towards the expenses and maintenance of their parents to meet their basic needs.
- Accordingly, the court disposed of the petition at no costs.
Conclusion
The parents are often left with no other alternative remedy but to take shelter somewhere else despite their advanced age and fragile physical condition, that now it has become a disheartening situation in the Indian society to observe such senior citizens despite having heirs of their own are forced to knock on the doors of the courts for securing their social security and economic safety after them being driven out of their homes by their children’s which depicts the rise of newer generation adopting the western culture and their influences that in turn is leading to eroded Indian values and relations, Hon’ble Court observed.
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