Legal rights of an old age mother against domestic violence by family?

774 votes

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

This Act is superior to every other act and has overriding effect on every other law for senior citizens.

Whom does the Act apply to?

Senior Citizens – over 60 years of age
Parents – Mother/Father/Stepfather/Stepmother of any age
Who are Children and Relatives?

Children could refer to any adult son/daughter and also grandson/daughter
Relatives – If the senior citizen has no children, his legal heir, that is one who is either in possession of the property of the senior citizen or would inherit it.
It may be noted here that children have a right to implead other children. This is intended to prevent senior citizens from accusing and placing the burden on their children selectively, whether the reasons are emotional, cultural, etc. All children are liable to provide Maintenance for their parents.

What is Property?

Movable or immovable property
Tangible or intangible property
Ancestral property as well as self-acquired
Rights or Interests in such property
What this means is that ancestral property, on which multiple claims may exist, can no longer be used as a loophole or an excuse to avoid provision of maintenance for seniors entitled to it.

What is Maintenance?

This includes

Food
Clothing
Residence
Medical Attendance – the right to have nurses or helpers at home
Medical Treatment.
Maintenance is the sum of money that a senior citizen gets to ensure his welfare. The maximum amount which may be ordered for maintenance of a senior citizen shall be prescribed by the State Government and shall not exceed Rs. 10,000/- per month.

What is Welfare?

Welfare includes

Provision for food
Healthcare
Recreation centres and other amenities necessary for the senior citizens
What are the conditions for a Senior Citizen to claim maintenance?

A senior citizen can only claim maintenance if she/he is unable to maintain himself/herself from property owned or from own earning.

Such claims can be made upon

One or more children or grandchildren, who are not minors.
In case of a childless senior citizen, a relative as defined above
Apart from vesting ‘rights’ in elders, the law casts an ‘obligation’ on the child or relative, extending to the ‘needs’ of the senior citizens, as required for them to lead a normal life.

Who can apply for maintenance?

The senior citizen himself
Any other person or registered voluntary organisation authorised by him/her
The Tribunal itself can initiate an enquiry
Where does one file this application?

The application for maintenance may either be filed in the district where the senior citizen stays or last stayed, or in the district where the child or relative stays.

What is the procedure involved?

Once the application for maintenance under Section 4 has been submitted,

The Tribunal will issue a notice to the children
They will have the opportunity of being heard
The application must be disposed of within 90 days, with an extension of 30 days under extreme circumstances that need to be recorded in writing. This, however, is rare as the Assistant Commissioner at the head of the Tribunal has multiple responsibilities. He has to split his time between these different duties, in addition to dealing with pressure from superiors, and this inevitably causes delays.
The Tribunal shall determine the amount to be paid, subject to a maximum of Rs.10,000
Amount to be paid from date of order
When should maintenance be paid?

Children are liable to start paying legal costs as well as Maintenance from the day of the order, or if so ordered by the Tribunal, from the day that the application was filed.

Upon the death of one child, other children continue to be liable. If one of the children die, their portion of the maintenance must be taken care of by the remaining children.

Failure to comply with the order of the Tribunal is punishable with levy of fines, or even imprisonment for up to a month.

Having said so, however, lawyer Shiv Kumar raised a question for the audience. He asked, “How many of you would want your children to go to jail, for Rs. 10,000?” Kumar says that he receives multiple calls on the Elders Helpline from senior citizens who say, “We will beg, we will borrow, we will starve, but we will not have a situation where my children will go to jail.”

That, now, is a conundrum for society to heed and solve.

Advocate Kishan Dutt Kalaskar LawRato

691 votes

Here the mother and mother in law is having same right. If she was harassed from other family member, then can seek shelter under Domestic Violence Ac.

Here the old age mother can file a maintenance case from her husband or his son for his livelihood.

Better she file a case against the offender under Domestic Violence Act. or she can also file maintenance case against his children seeking shelter in her old age.

Advocate M Lakshmikanth Arya LawRato