The Maintenance Tribunal is empowered to pass eviction orders against children from the property of senior citizens if it is necessary for their welfare, protection, and to ensure they live peacefully, regardless of whether the Act expressly mentions eviction.

Order

21/04/2026

By way of filing the present writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:-

“It is therefore most respectfully prayed that your lordship may be pleased to allow this writ petition and by an appropriate writ order and directions:-

(A) That the order dated 08.02.2024 (Annexure-4) passed by learned Maintenance Tribunal and Sub Divisional Officer Bilara in Maintenance Application NO. 01/2023 Sampat Raj Soni V/S Ramesh Kumar Soni, may kindly be quashed and set aside.

(B) That any appropriate writ order direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner.”

2. In the present writ petition, the dispute is between a father and his son. The sole respondent, who is the father of the petitioner, filed an application under Section 5 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act of 2007”) before the Presiding Officer, Maintenance Tribunal-cum-Sub Divisional Officer, Bhilwara (hereinafter referred to as “the learned Maintenance Tribunal”). In the said application, the respondent stated that his son (the petitioner) and daughter-in-law had been living separately for more than twenty years; however, on 28.01.2023, they forcibly entered his house. It was further alleged that the petitioner, who is unemployed, frequently returns home in an intoxicated condition and harasses him for money. The respondent also stated that the daughter-in-law supports the petitioner in such acts. As per the averments, the petitioner has been threatening his parents for money and asking them to vacate the house.

3. The petitioner filed a detailed reply before the learned Maintenance Tribunal, denying all allegations. It was contended that the subject property is not the self-acquired property of the respondent and, therefore, the petitioner and his family cannot be compelled to vacate the same. It was further stated that on 10.07.2023, the respondent misbehaved with the petitioner’s wife and attempted to outrage her modesty, whereupon FIR No. 231/2023 was registered at Police Station Bilara under Sections 341, 323, and 354 IPC, which is presently under investigation. It was also stated that the petitioner’s wife sustained injuries in the said incident.

4. The learned Maintenance Tribunal, after hearing the parties and perusing the record, concluded that the subject property is owned and possessed by the sole respondent. The material on record indicated strained relations between the father and son, and that criminal cases are pending between them. With a view to ensure the protection of the life and property of the respondent, a senior citizen, and to enable him to live peacefully, the learned Maintenance Tribunal, vide order dated 08.02.2024, directed the petitioner to vacate the premises.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that applications under Sections 4 and 5 of the Act of 2007 are limited to claims for maintenance or financial assistance, and that an application seeking eviction of a son is not maintainable under the Act. It was further argued that the Rajasthan Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2010 do not contain any provision permitting eviction. According to the learned counsel, neither the Act nor the Rules expressly or impliedly contemplate the power of eviction while deciding maintenance applications.

6. In the alternative, learned counsel submitted that even in cases where a senior citizen alleges