Children cannot challenge maintenance orders meant to protect elderly parents, the Orissa high court has said, quashing a Balasore collector’s decision that had reopened a case filed by an 83-year-old widow seeking support from her sons.
“It is the duty and responsibility of her sons…to take her care at her old age, as she is physically incapable,” the court said.
In a judgment delivered on Monday, justice Ananda Chandra Behera restored an earlier maintenance order in favour of Parbati Das and ruled that the collector had acted without jurisdiction in entertaining an appeal filed by one of her sons.
Parbati Das had initially approached the Balasore sub-collector, functioning as the Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. She alleged that her sons had divided their late father’s ancestral house between themselves without leaving any space for her residence. With no independent source of income and advanced age limiting her ability to sustain herself, she sought financial support and protection of her living rights.
When her sons failed to provide for her sustenance or medical needs, she moved the tribunal seeking assistance. In February 2024, the tribunal directed one of the sons to pay ₹5,000 per month as maintenance and allowed her to reside with another son, while ensuring she was not obstructed from staying in her late husband’s ancestral home.
During the proceedings, the sons argued that an earlier mediation arrangement required one son to pay ₹1,000 per month to the other for their mother’s upkeep. However, the tribunal found that the arrangement had not been effectively implemented and that the elderly woman had been left without adequate care.
One of the sons later challenged the order before the Balasore collector-cum-district magistrate, who remitted the matter back to the tribunal for fresh inquiry. The elderly woman then approached the HC, arguing that such an appeal was not maintainable under the law.
Agreeing with her, the HC held that the right to appeal under Section 16 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act is available only to senior citizens or parents, and not to children or relatives.
“The language of Section 16…specifically and unequivocally grants the right of appeal exclusively to senior citizens,” the court observed, adding that extending this right to others would defeat the intent of the law.
“The petitioner is the old widow mother…and she is incapable physically to earn something for her maintenance…it is the duty and responsibility of her sons…to take care of her in old age,” the court said.
It further noted that the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, is a beneficial legislation intended to provide “social justice to parents and senior citizens,” and must therefore be interpreted in a manner that advances its purpose.
