The Kerala High Court noted that for an act to qualify as 'abandonment of a senior citizen' under the law, it must involve complete and total abandonment without any provision made for the person's care.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed:

“Thus unless there is a total and complete abandonment of the parent by leaving him in a place without any arrangement for taking care of the senior citizen, the offence cannot be said to have been committed."

It was argued that the petitioner had sent his father from his residence in Ernakulam to his sister's residence in Trivandrum. However, three months later, the petitioner's sister filed a complaint alleging that the petitioner had abandoned their father by placing him in a taxi, despite his inability to care for himself. The petitioner sought to quash the proceedings related to this complaint pending before the Magistrate's Court.

The petitioner contended that the sister had filed the complaint with mala fide intentions.

The Court noted that parents may be required to travel between their children for various reasons, possibly based on agreements between siblings or between a parent and child. The arrangement of a taxi from Ernakulam to Trivandrum indicated, according to the Court, that there was no abandonment in this case.

The Court also observed that the complaint was filed by the daughter of the senior citizen, not by the senior citizen himself, and that too after a lapse of three months.

Therefore, the Court concluded that proceeding with the prosecution would constitute an abuse of the court process and subsequently quashed further proceedings in the case.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Advocates K. R. Vinod, M. S. Letha, Nabil Khader, Rahul S.

Counsel for Respondent: Public Prosecutor Ashi M. C.

Case No: Crl.M.C. 1262 of 2024

Case Title: Dr. Pramod John v State of Kerala