Daughter-in-law asked to leave flat, HC relief for couple

Shibu.Thomas@timesgroup.com


Mumbai:13.10.2018

The Bombay high court on Thursday came to the aid of an elderly Bandra couple, and ordered their daughter-in-law to move out of their flat within a month, over allegations that she was harassing them. A trial court had earlier ordered the 44-year-old woman’s husband and the elderly couple’s son to find a flat of her liking. But, when she rejected all 49 flats her husband found, the HC gave two options: Find an apartment with a monthly rent of ₹35,000-40,000 on her own in a month or select from houses her husband found.

“Allowing the couple, who are at the fag end of their lives, to continue to suffer the harassment at the hands of the daughter-in-law in the twilight years of their lives, would be a cruelty to them,” said Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi. Over the years, the family has filed multiple criminal complaints against each other, including one in which the woman claimed her father-in-law tried to molest her. The woman had refused to move out and claimed it was her matrimonial home, and her husband had a share in the property.

“If the woman is making such allegations of sexual molestation by her father-in-law, it becomes difficult to understand why she wants to continue to reside in the flat with (her in-laws),” the judge said. The court said one option was to expedite hearing of the petitions but that would not solve the problem in the interim. “The court cannot close its eyes to realities of the litigation and facts of the life. Continuously, criminal cases and police complaints are being filed against each other, and there is no respite for either of the parties, including the young adolescent daughter,” the judge said.

The couple, in their early 70s, had approached court in 2016 seeking an injunction against their daughter-in-law and asking her to vacate the flat. Their 45-year-old son had bought a flat in Malad in 2014 and had moved there, while the woman and their 13-year-old grand-daughter lived in the Bandra flat with his parents occupying two bedrooms. The parents alleged that their daughter-in-law was abusive and harassed them constantly. She had lodged criminal cases against them, including that of molestation, and police had arrested them.

The parents claimed their lives were miserable with their daughter-in-law and sought her eviction. A trial court earlier this year, in an interim order in June 2016, told the woman’s husband to find a house she liked within six months.

The parents alleged that their daughter-in-law was abusive and harassed them constantly. She had lodged criminal cases against them, including that of molestation