CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has upheld an order passed by the sub-collector, Bhubaneswar, acting as the Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, reinforcing the rights of senior citizens to live with dignity and security.
The single judge bench of Justice Ananda Charan Behera gave the ruling recently while considering petition filed by a son challenging the Tribunal’s order dated August 7, 2025, which allowed his 86-year-old father to reside in the ground floor of their ancestral house in Baramunda, Bhubaneswar. The son along with his wife and children occupies the first floor of the same building.
The father had moved the Tribunal seeking protection under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 after being forced by his son to leave his parental house. While the son lived on the first floor with his family, the elderly father sought to spend his remaining years on the ground floor of the same property.
The court emphasised the welfare-centric nature of the law, stating, “The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and the Rules thereof are the beneficial legislations. The beneficial statutes and legislations must receive liberal constructions in consonance with the objects to be served by it. The primary object of the said Act, 2007 is to give social justice to parents and senior citizens. Therefore, Court should adopt purpose oriented approach.”
Taking note of the father’s advanced age and circumstances, the court observed that he wished to spend his remaining years in his ancestral home after the demise of his wife. It further noted that Rule 19 of the Orissa Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2009 mandates that orders must ensure senior citizens can live with “security and dignity”.
Finding no merit in the son’s challenge, the court ruled that there was no justification to interfere with the Tribunal’s order, which was passed in furtherance of the Act’s objective of protecting elderly citizens.