Can a mother evict son from her property?

Even though joint families are common in India, they do have a flip side, too.  This is particularly true in case of old parents who fail to get any support from their children even though the latter use the former’s property to resident.

Sample this: according to a report by HelpAge India, a charity platform that works for the cause of the disadvantaged elderly population, 35% of elders suffered abuse at the hands of their sons and 21% reported abuse by their daughters-in-law. According to the report, the nature of the abuse ranges from ‘disrespect’ and ‘verbal abuse’ to ‘neglect’ and ‘physical violence’.

This brings the question, can a widowed mother evict her son and her daughter in-law because of abuse?   The answer is yes, as shown by two recent verdicts passed by two high courts in India.

Maheshwari devi versus Government of NCT of Delhi & Others

A senior citizen is free to make an application for eviction of their son/daughter/legal heirs from their self-acquired or ancestral properties before the district magistrate under Rule 22(3)(1) of the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2009, the Delhi High Court has said while giving its verdict in the Maheshwari devi versus Government of NCT of Delhi & Others case.

In this case, the mother told the court that she was unable to reside in a property owned by her because of the ill treatment met out to her by her son and daughter in-law.

The law also specifies the process to be followed in such a situation.

Process to ask for eviction of son, other legal heirs

1. According to the law, the deputy commissioner should immediately forward the application made by the senior citizen to the Sub-Divisional Magistrates concerned for verification of the title of the property and facts of the case within 15 days from the date of receipt of such application.
2. The SDM should immediately submit its report to the deputy commissioner/DM for final orders within 21 days from the date of receipt of the complaint/application.
3. The deputy commissioner/district magistrate during summary proceedings for the protection of senior citizen/parents should consider all the relevant provisions of the said Act. If the deputy commissioner/district magistrate is of opinion that any son or daughter or legal heir of a senior citizen/parents is not maintaining the senior citizen and ill-treating them and yet is occupying the property of any kind whether movable or immovable, ancestral or self-acquired, tangible or intangible and include rights or interests in such property of the senior citizen, they should be evicted.
4. The deputy commissioner/district magistrate should issue a notice in writing calling upon all persons concerned to show cause as to why an order of eviction should not be issued against them.
5. The notice should specify the grounds on which the order of eviction is proposed to be made and require all persons concerned to show cause against the proposed order within 10 days from the date of issue.

Though the Senior Citizens Act is for the protection of the senior citizens, it cannot be used for settling property disputes, the HC said in its order dated February 19, 2024.

Dinesh Bhanudas Chandanshive versus State of Maharashtra

In January 2024, the Bombay High Court ordered a man and his family to vacate his 70-year-old mother’s house in Mulund West within 15 days in a property dispute case. The son had filed a petition against in the HC against order by the Senior Citizens Maintenance Tribunal, which had directed him and his wife to vacate the house of his mother on charges of unlawfully evicting the senior citizens from the premises.

In her appeal, the mother, Laxmi Bhanudas Chandanshive, alleged that her son and his wife illegally removed her home, allotted to her deceased husband. After her husband’s demise 15 June, 2015, the son along with his wife visited her and thereafter refused to leave the tenement.

The mother contended that the motive of the petitioner to illegally oust her so as to exclusively occupy her tenement with an intention to grab the tenement that too during her lifetime and to the exclusion of the other siblings of the petitioner. She contended that by fabricating documents, the petitioner intended to sell the tenement.

While rejecting the son’s plea, Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla said: “Due to withering of the joint family system, a large number of elderly are not being looked after by their family, consequently, many older persons, particularly widowed women are now forced to spend their twilight years all alone and are exposed to emotional neglect and to lack of physical and financial support.”

While directing the son to vacate the premises within a period of 15, the court said that the mother certainly deserves to be maintained from her own tenement. “The petitioner has no legal right whatsoever to oust the mother from her tenement so as to make her roofless and/or deprive maintenance from her tenement.”