Today, the Bombay High Court directed a man to vacate his mother's house, which he and his wife had illegally occupied.

A division bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Firdosh Pooniwala said that aging has become a major social challenge, and hence there is a need to pay more attention to the care and safety of senior citizens.

The bench said, "Due to the demise of the joint family system, many elderly people are no longer being looked after by their families. As a result, many elderly people, especially widowed women, are left alone in their last days, facing emotional distress. Experiencing neglect, financial hardship, and physical hardship."

The court had passed the order on a petition filed by Dinesh Chandanshive against the September 2021 order of the Chairman of the Senior Citizens Maintenance Tribunal, directing him to vacate the residence of his elderly mother, Lakshmi Chandanshive, who lives in Mulund.

Case Brief:

According to the elderly woman, Lakshmi Chandanshive, her husband died in 2015. Soon after her death, her son and his wife visited her and thereafter refused to leave the house. They allegedly harassed her and forced her to leave the house. The woman later started residing with her elder son in Thane.

The high court dismissed the petition and directed the man and his wife to vacate the premises within 15 days.

The bench, in its order, said being disowned by one's own child causes trauma, and no parent should suffer this way.

"In one's life, there is much more than material things. "I would be proud to be the parent of such children who would have their own achievements on all fronts and not look at the wealth and money of their old parents," the bench said.