HC upholds annulment of property transfer to man for failing to take care of parents

The court noted that Section 23(1) provides a specific remedy in respect of a transfer of property by a senior citizen where the transfer is subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide basic amenities

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the decision of a maintenance tribunal in Jalandhar that ordered the annulment of a property transfer to a son failing to maintain his parents.

The property – a factory shed — was transferred to the son in July 2017. (HT File)

The annulment was allowed even as transfer deed did not contain the condition that the son would maintain them post transfer of the property, a condition under Section 23(1) of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

In October 2022, a divisional magistrate in Jalandhar passed the initial annulment order based on the father’s complaint, which the deputy commissioner subsequently upheld. It was against this order the son had approached high court in 2023.

The property – a factory shed — was transferred to the son in July 2017. The father complained that he had acquired the property. The son requested him to transfer the property in his favour on the assurance that he would take care of his father and mother. Acting upon the assurance of the petitioner son and out of love, the father executed the transfer deed. However, after obtaining the property, the son failed to look after him, the man said in his complaint invoking Section 23 of the law that allows parents to get the property back if the son/daughter fail to take care of parents.

The court noted that Section 23(1) provides a specific remedy in respect of a transfer of property by a senior citizen where the transfer is subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide basic amenities and basic physical needs to the transferor and the transferee thereafter refuses or fails to provide the same. Thus, the existence of such a condition and its subsequent breach constitutes the statutory foundation for exercise of power under Section 23(1).

Assurance that was never fulfilled

“While the existence of a condition accompanying the transfer deed remains a necessary requirement for invoking Section 23(1), the same has to be examined in the context of the transaction as a whole and not by adopting an unduly technical approach confined merely to the use of particular words in the transfer document. The existence of such condition, however, must be established from the transfer document, the pleadings of the parties, the circumstances surrounding the transaction and the material brought before the competent authority,” the court observed, adding that the transfer deed does not contain an express stipulation that the petitioner would provide basic amenities and basic physical needs to the father. Further, mention in the transfer deed regarding the parties’ awareness of the 2007 law also cannot be treated as the statutory condition as contemplated by Section 23(1).

The court further recorded that the father specifically said in his complaint about the assurance of the son and the case in hand is not that the father introduced pleadings about assurance at a later stage. It also found that a compromise between the parties in 2022 also finds mention of the assurance from the son.

The court upheld the tribunal order adding that the mere absence of an express statutory recital in the transfer deed cannot, in the factual setting of the case, be considered in isolation from the specific case pleaded by the father and the material considered by the tribunal.

“..this court cannot lose sight of the fact that the Act of 2007 is a beneficial social welfare legislation enacted to ensure that the elderly are able to live with dignity, security and care. The very circumstance that senior citizens are increasingly compelled to invoke the process of law to secure basic care, protection and necessities from their own children is a matter of serious concern. The provisions of such beneficial legislation must, therefore, be construed purposively and liberally, keeping in view the dignity of the aged and the legislative object sought to be achieved,” it observed.