CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has urged the senior citizens to approach the local Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) incase they do not get back their property which was entrusted to siblings or relatives.
Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, governing such an eventuality, provides for cancellation of the Settlement Deed and to declare the gift deed as void and the Revenue Divisional Officer has been empowered to do so. When the siblings of the settler/donor had failed to keep up faith and failed to take care of the donor in maintaining them at the advance age, Justice RMT Teekaa Raman has said.
The judge was dismissing a second appeal from a 93 year old woman, who wanted the court to cancel the orders of a lower court in Villupuram, passed in 1995. Left with no other go, the judge strictly followed a ruling of the Supreme Court ruling, and rejected her plea to return the property back to her.
In this connection, the judge said that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted and functioning under the scheme formulated by the Supreme Court for the protection of senior
citizens. The scheme had pressed the need of spreading the legal awareness among the senior citizens regarding the availability of such provisions for cancellation of settlement deed before the Revenue Divisional Officer. When a senior citizen is found to be cheated by the siblings, after obtaining the settlement/gift deed in their favour, the scheme provides for necessary legal assistance to him, the judge said.
He also ordered that a copy of this judgment be circulated to all the District and Taluk Legal Services Authorities so that they could take steps to spread the legal awareness about the rights and provisions available to the senior citizens.
To enable this, the judge directed the High Court Registry to circulate a copy of this judgment to the Member Secretary of TN State Legal Services Authority for circulation to the District and Taluk Legal Services Authorities to comply with the legal awareness program after getting necessary permission from the (Acting) Chief Justice of the High Court.