A guardian appointed under the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act has authority to manage and transfer property on behalf of the individual deemed unfit, without additional procedural constraints.

JUDGMENT :

Vikram Aggarwal, J.

1. The petitioner assails the communication dated 23.07.2024 (Annexure P-12) issued by respondent No.2 vide which, with reference to the request made by the petitioner to sell house No.42, Sector 11-A, Chandigarh (50% of which is owned by the petitioner and 50% by her husband-Jivtesh Singh Maini and who is mentally and physically unfit) (hereinafter referred to as the 'subject property'), she has been advised to approach the competent Court under Order XXXII of the Code of Civil Procedure (for short 'CPC') for seeking permission to sell 50% share of her husband. She further prays for the issuance of a mandamus to the respondents to accord the necessary permission to her in terms of the judgment dated 31.05.2024 passed by the Court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, South District, Saket Courts, New Delhi (for short 'Delhi Court') under Section 14 of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (for short '2016 Act'). Stay of the communication dated 23.07.2024 has also been prayed for.

2. The petitioner-Smt. Gurpreet Kaur Maini lives in Delhi alongwith her husband-Jivtesh Singh Maini. The petitioner is 71 years of age whereas her husband is 74 years old and is a patient of advanced Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. He has been under the medical supervision of Dr. Col. J.D. Mukherji at Max Healthcare Institute of Neurosciences, New Delhi. The medical certificate dated 29.11.2013 issued by the Doctor has been placed on record as Annexure P-1. In the evening of her life, the petitioner is now running from pillar to post to sell 50% share of her husband in the subject property of which the other 50% share is held by the petitioner. The reason for the husband of the petitioner not being able to participate in the sale proceedings is his disease i.e. Alzheimer's with vascular dementia. It is the case of the petitioner that her husband forgets his basic day to day activities and is on heavy medications for the last 12 years and his condition is deteriorating by each passing day. He is on strict bed rest and is not permitted to go out of home as he had multiple falls in the past and any mental or physical exertion can lead to a seizure.

3. The subject property devolved upon the petitioner and her husband in terms of the will dated 18.08.1996 (Annexure P-2) executed by the mother-in-law of the petitioner Late Mrs. Pritam Kaur Maini. The rights were transferred in favour of the petitioner and her husband vide communication dated 06.05.1998 (Annexure P-2/A). The petitioner and her husband had also executed a joint will dated 14.01.2008 vide which the subject property was to be bequeathed in favour of the surviving testator with absolute rights to enjoy, sell or otherwise dispose of any of the properties during his or her lifetime.

4. A request dated 26.12.2023 (Annexure P-3) was made by the petitioner to the District Magistrate, Chandigarh seeking permission to sign on behalf of her husband as a legal guardian. Vide communication dated 12.03.2024 (Annexure P-4), respondents No.3 and 4 asked the petitioner to get a guardianship certificate from the Civil Court under the provisions of the 2016 Act. Accordingly, the petitioner preferred a petition under Section 14 of the 2016 Act before the concerned Court at Delhi and the same was allowed vide judgment dated 31.05.2024 (Annexure P-7). The petitioner was held to be entitled to take necessary decisions for daily maintenance and upkeep of her husband, to operate and manage the funds on behalf of her husband in order to use the same for his benefit and to take all legal and financial decisions on his behalf.

5. Armed with the judgment dated 31.05.2