Judgement review

Prefix Chattisgarh High Court, Judgement Review, Pramod Ranjankar v. Arunashankar

The author of this Judgement Review is Kevin Joy, who is a sixth semester student of three year LLB at Al Azhar Law College, Thodupuzha, Idukki. The author reviews the judgement of the case Pramod Rajankar v. Arunashankar.

CASE

Pramod Ranjankar v. Arunashankar
2 Wps/4633/2018 – 18 July, 2018
Chhattisgarh High Court

OVERVIEW

The case deals with cruelty against parents/senior citizens and suitable remedy sought by the means of the Court under Maintenance and Welfare of the Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007

INTRODUCTION

The ageing process is a natural aspect of life. It is the good fortune of having a lot of life experiences. ‘Old age’ is the term used to describe a person’s final phase or stage of existence. The onset of old age is a natural process that is unavoidable, unwanted, and difficult. It’s fascinating to note that everyone desires to live a long life without becoming old. It’s odd that, no matter how unpleasant it is, old age must come. We are all forced to confront the joys and sorrows of life. The life cycle is completed by old age. It has its own delights, which are distinct from those of childhood and youth.

Constitutional Provisions and Laws for Welfare of Senior Citizens and Parents include –

The well-being of the elderly is enshrined in the Constitution of India. Entry 24 of Schedule III of the Constitution of India, Appendix VII, deals with “working conditions, pension funds, liability for worker injuries, disability and old-age pensions, and labour welfare including maternity benefits”. Also, items 9 on the state list and items 20, 23, and 24 on the simultaneous list relate to old-age pensions, social security and social security, and economic and social planning.

Article 41 of Directive Principles of State Policy, has a particular relevance to Old Age Social Security. According to this Article

“The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in case of unemployment, Old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want”

Violation of the rights of senior citizens can be challenged mainly under provisions of the following two Acts in India:

1. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act,1956

2. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007

3. Section 20 of Hindu marriage and adoption act, 1956 makes it obligatory provisions to maintain aged parents.

4. Under Section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 the elder parents can claim maintenance from their children.

5. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019: The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr. Thawarchand Gehlot, on December 11, 2019. The Bill amends the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

Offences and penalties:

By law, leaving an elderly person or parent is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 months, a fine of up to 5,000 rupees, or both. The bill raises the sentence to imprisonment of 3 to 6 months, a fine of up to 10,000 rupees, or both. The bill also provides that if a child or relative fails to comply with a maintenance order, the court may issue an order to collect the unpaid amount. Failure to pay such a fine could result in imprisonment of up to one month or the longest, whichever comes first.

In recent years, the problematic lives of older people have been recognized worldwide. This recognition has led governments in many countries, including the central and state governments of India, to take some reasonable steps to mitigate the problem. The Government of India here is also doing its best to provide adequate social security to the elderly.

FACTS

1. Cruelty against parents upon which, they were subjected to torture, ill-treatment and misbehavior/ manhandled by the son and daughter in law.

2. Senior Citizens, moves an application u/s 24 of The Maintenance and Welfare of the Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007

3. The parents’ plea to the court to evict the children from the house so as to have peace and freedom from their torture.

ISSUE

Whether the parents are able to re-claim the house and escape the torture from the son and daughter-in-law under Maintenance & Welfare of the Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007?

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Pramod Ranjankar & Anr. v. Aruna Shankar & ors.

(HIGH COURT OF CHATTISGARH, BILASPUR: CRMP No. 600 of 2018, Judgement Reserved on 17/5/2018, Pronounced on 18/7/2018)

Right of Senior Citizen over Immovable Property and Eviction of Abusive Children –

As per the case, two senior citizens which was, Pramod Ranjankar S/o Dharmi Mohankar Aged about 87 and Smt. Kshipra w/o Pramod Rajankar Aged about 77 Years – (Petitioners) alleged of physical assault and torment by their son and daughter-in-law – (Respondents) by not providing them food, medicine and also confining them to a corner of their own house.

The first information report shows that the complaint was made stating that after retirement they were living in the house owned by Petitioner no.1 along-with his son and daughter in law who is Ex-Serviceman and is presently working in Indian Oil Corporation and the daughter-in-law who is working as teacher in a school. It was complained that the daughter in- law used to conduct tuition classes in the house and had forcibly encroached upon their plot and house. It is further complained that for the last 4-5 years they were isolated and driven to a corner of the house and further they were made to live in captivity in their own house. It was further complained that they have endured the violent pathetic atmosphere created by the respondents and they had also sustained utmost grief, pain and suffering.

The Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) took cognizance of the case after the Petitioners filed a complaint, and ruled that a prima facie case was brought out against the defendants under Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (Act). However, notifications were later issued to the respondents, and while the proceedings were continuing, Petitioner filed an application for interim relief for the eviction of the Respondents from the house. It was said that because the resolution of a pending criminal case could take some time, the son and daughter should be expelled from the home to protect the petitioners. However, the Lower Court held that when the petition filed under Section 24 of the Act was pending and hence eviction cannot be passed by the Court.

Section 24 of the law provides that the person responsible for caring for the elderly leaves them with the intention of leaving them. In that case, they must be punished.

Reading section 24 of the Act reveals that it protects senior persons in any location if they are abandoned, and that the act is punishable by three months in prison or a fine, implying that anyone who knowingly abandons a senior citizen faces punishment. The clause, on the other hand, indicates that it is designed to give a prompt preventive remedy for the safety of senior citizens.

Section 23 of the Act shows the circumstances under which a transfer of property by a senior citizen shall be rendered void on consequent misbehaviour by the transferee.

When combining Sections 23 and 24 of the Act, it would show that even if the property has been transferred by way of a gift or otherwise to the transferee, in lieu of such transfer of property the transferee has to provide basic facilities and physical needs to the transferor and if the transferee refuses or fails to provide such services and needs, the said transfer can become invalid.

The goal of the 2007 law is to seek easy, quick, but limited remedies, to prevent parents from being treated as social junk and to allow their children to use them as a matter of course.

DECISION

The High Court of Chhattisgarh in the case directed the respondents to evict their parents’ house on the basis of petitioner’s plea and thus the case was won and relief was sought.

CONCLUSION

Older people enjoy higher social status and can usually work longer and more productively. He is very cared for and respected at home. On the other hand, in urban industry and modern society, some elderly people are treated as if they were beyond their usefulness. However, this attitude of modern urban society can lead to the emergence of age related psychosis. In the socio-cultural environment of a rapidly changing society, we need to compromise to bridge the gaps between generations and ultimately adapt to them.