Maintenance and welfare of parents a sea nd senior citizens act, 2007
Rajesh Tandon
(Querist) 23 April 2013
This query is : Resolved
1. This is a query related to the Maintenance And Welfare Of Parents a sea nd Senior Citizens Act, 2007. It is a case of a soldier who has died and as per the normal procedures the wife is authorised ordinary family pension. The wife is getting the ordinary family pension. However there is no provision for division of ordinary family pension. The parents of deceased soldier have requested the Army authorities for some help as the daughter-in-law has moved out of the house to her parents place. Normally as per Maintenance And Welfare Of Parents And Senior Citizens Act, 2007 sec 2(d) "parent" means father or mother whether biological, adoptive or step father or step mother, as the case may be, whether or not the father or the mother is a senior citizen & as per sec 2(g) of the act"relative" means any legal heir of the childless senior citizen who is not a minor and is in possession of or would inherit his property after his death. The act per se does not mention anything in respect of duty/responsibility of the daughter-in-law to maintain in-laws in case of the deceased husband. Sec 4(1) of the act mentions about provision for parents /grandparents making an application against one or more of their children & Sec 4(2) of the act mentions about provision for childless senior citizen making an application against relative refered in clause (g) of Sec 2 .In the present case of the parents, they have got another son who is unemployed. Does the case of daughter-in-law on any ground fits into definition of relative to maintain the in-laws. Kindly suggest appropriately.
ajay sethi
(Expert) 23 April 2013
the responsibility is primarily on children . in your case even if son is unermployed he is bound to maintain his parents .
if parents make an application for maintenance from daughter in law on first date she will make an application under section 5(5) for impleading the son as party . his unemployment is no excuse
R.K Nanda
(Expert) 23 April 2013
consult local lawyer.
Rajesh Tandon
(Querist) 23 April 2013
Mr Sethi.Thank you very much for your valuable guidance. what you said about sec 5(5)is absolutely right. But what is not understood is how can unemployed person maintain parents. Isn't it contrary to maxim ,'Lex non cogit ad Impossibilia.' -Law does not seek to compel a man to do that which he cannot possibly perform & which was very much applied in Govt. Of A.P. vs C. Prakash Goud And Others on 10 August, 2001.Looking forward to your guidance & response on this ambiguity. Regards
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 23 April 2013
Mr. Tandon! Every citizen capable to earn is expected to earn and do perform his duties including maintaining his incapable parents. Such presumption becomes a lawful duty if the same becomes part of law. The support of the mentioned case law is not helpful for such person to avoid his lawful duty.
Rajesh Tandon
(Querist) 23 April 2013
Mr Makkad. Thanks alot for clarifying the ambiguity. Regards. My one querry is pending. I would draw attention of experts to that querry & i would be really grateful if one or more experts throw some light on it.One expert has tried to answer but the answer is not very clear. The querry is Sec 80 CPC & RTI- Consumer Court & writ petition. The querry is still open on Lawyers club India
