Court order

Karnataka HC: Son has no right to live with parents after manhandling them

The son cannot be permitted to stay in the property, subject to the condition that he would not harm his parents, physically or emotionally, the HC said.

Published: 19th February 2019 06:24 AM  |   Last Updated: 19th February 2019 06:24 AM  

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court came to the rescue of an elderly couple by dismissing the petition filed by their son, questioning the order passed by Tribunal of Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens, asking him to vacate his parents’ house within 30 days and pay Rs 10,000 to them per month.

Observing that the son had no right to live with his parents — P Rajagopal and A Vidya, 74 and 71 years, respectively, residing at Vaiyalikaval in city — as per Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, after having manhandled them, Justice Alok Aradhe dismissed the petition filed by 36-year-old son Skanda Sharath.

On December 4, 2018, the Assistant Commissioner, Tribunal of Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens, directed Sharath to pay a sum of Rs 10,000 per month to his parents and hand over the vacant physical possession of the residential units occupied by him within 30 days of the order and not to interfere with the possession of his parents over the same.

Questioning this order, Sharath moved the High Court saying his parents are retired employees of a bank and state government, respectively, and are getting a pension of approximately Rs 70,000, and therefore had no locus to maintain the proceedings under the Act.

On hearing the arguments of both the parties, the HC said, “Our Society is a traditional society, and its core value is to provide care for elderly and to treat them with respect. However, with changing times, the joint family system has gone into oblivion and nuclear families have emerged. Therefore, many elderly persons are forced to spend the evenings of their lives in loneliness and are subjected to emotional neglect and deprived of physical and financial support. Therefore, the Act has been enacted with object to provide more effective provisions for maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens.”  

The court said that the son has admittedly manhandled his parents, for which criminal cases have been registered against him, under the provisions of IPC for causing hurt, wrongful restraint, intentional insult and criminal intimidation. The son cannot be permitted to stay in the property, subject to the condition that he would not harm his parents, physically or emotionally, the HC said.