Summary
An elderly mother in Gurugram had executed a registered release deed in 2008 giving her two daughters shares in her land. Years later she asked the Maintenance Tribunal to declare it void under Section 23 of the Senior Citizens Act, saying her children were not looking after her. The Tribunal did so and the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld its order. The Supreme Court set both aside. Section 23(1) applies only if the transfer was made subject to a condition that the transferee would provide the senior citizen's basic amenities and physical needs, and the transferee then fails to do so. Such transfers are often made out of love and affection, so the condition must be pleaded and proved. Here it was neither pleaded nor found.
Issues
- Whether a release deed by a senior citizen in favour of her daughters can be declared void under Section 23(1) of the 2007 Act without pleading or proof that it was made subject to a condition to provide her basic amenities and physical needs.
Provisions considered
- Section 23(1), Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007Covers any transfer by gift or otherwise, but only where it was made subject to a condition that the transferee would provide basic amenities and physical needs and the transferee refuses or fails to do so; the transfer is then deemed vitiated by fraud, coercion or undue influence and may be declared void at the transferor's option. (¶¶ 11, 12, 14)
- Sections 7 and 8, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007The Maintenance Tribunal is constituted under Section 7 and holds a summary inquiry under Section 8. (¶ 11)
Held
- Two conditions must both be satisfied for Section 23(1): the transfer must be subject to a condition that the transferee will provide the transferor's basic amenities and physical needs, and the transferee must refuse or fail to provide them; only then does the deeming fiction make the transfer voidable at the transferor's instance. (¶ 12)
- Since transfers to near relatives are often made out of love and affection without any expectation, the existence of such a condition must be established before the Tribunal; it is a sine qua non. (¶¶ 13, 14)
- Neither the petition nor the counter affidavit pleaded that the release was conditional, the Tribunal recorded no such finding and took no oral evidence, and the High Court did not examine the merits; the order could not stand. (¶¶ 14, 15)
- The rights claimed by an intervening developer as purchaser of part of the land are left open for appropriate proceedings. (¶ 16)
Result
Civil Appeal No. 174 of 2021 allowed; the Maintenance Tribunal's order dated 22.05.2018 and the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment dated 21.05.2019 in Civil Writ Petition No. 16581 of 2018 set aside and the Section 23 petition dismissed; no costs.