Nagpur. 10 July (HS):

The Bombay High Court has ruled that parents who gift property to their

children in return for care and support during old age can reclaim the property

if the children fail to fulfil their obligation, irrespective of the parents’

financial status.

The ruling was

delivered by a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge

and Justice Gautam Ankhad while hearing a petition filed by a 42-year-old

resident of Lower Parel challenging an order directing him to hand over

possession of a flat to his 68-year-old father.

According to the case

details, the father, a jeweller, had purchased the Lower Parel flat in March

2005 and resided there with his wife, son and the latter’s family. In May 2023,

he executed a gift deed transferring ownership of the flat to his son on the

condition that the son would provide basic amenities and care to him and his

wife in their old age.

The father later alleged that relations between the family

members had deteriorated and that he and his wife were eventually forced to

leave the house in 2025. He subsequently approached the tribunal constituted

under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

On April 13, the tribunal

directed the son and his family to vacate the premises within 60 days and

restore possession of the flat to the elderly couple.

The son challenged the order

before the High Court, arguing that his father was financially independent,

operated his own business and owned other immovable properties. He contended

that his parents were capable of maintaining themselves and therefore were not

entitled to relief under the law.

Rejecting the plea, the High Court observed that Section 23 of

the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act empowers

tribunals to declare a transfer of property void if it was made subject to the

condition that the transferee would provide basic amenities and physical care

to senior citizens and the obligation was not fulfilled.

The bench held that the

financial condition of the senior citizens was irrelevant to the application of

Section 23 and that once the statutory conditions under the provision were

satisfied, the transfer of property could be declared void.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar