Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court has held that appeals under Section 16 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 can be filed only by senior citizens or parents and not by their children, relatives or other parties.
Delivering the verdict in Shanti Bai Jarwal vs Manju Kunare and others case, a division bench comprising justice Vivek Rusia and justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi clarified a long-standing legal question that had led to conflicting interpretations by different high courts.
The court ruled that the wording of Section 16(1) — “any senior citizen or a parent, as the case may be”— was “plain, specific, and exhaustive”, indicating that Parliament intended to confer the appellate right only upon senior citizens and parents. It rejected arguments seeking to broaden the provision to “any aggrieved person,” observing that such an interpretation would amount to judicial legislation.
The bench further held that the omission of children and relatives from Section 16 was a “conscious legislative choice” rather than a drafting error. It noted that the right of appeal was a statutory creation and could not be implied or expanded beyond what the law expressly provided.
The court also underscored that the Senior Citizens Act was enacted as a social welfare measure to provide a “speedy, simple and inexpensive remedy” for the protection and maintenance of elderly people. Allowing other parties to appeal, the judges said, would frustrate this objective by inviting prolonged litigation and procedural delays.
The judgment arose from a case involving 89-year-old Shanti Bai Jarwal of Indore, who had sought possession of her house from her daughter under the Act. While the sub-divisional officer had ordered the daughter to vacate, the additional collector later set aside that order on appeal. The high court quashed the appellate order, ruling that the daughter’s appeal itself was not maintainable under the law.
By answering the reference question in the negative, the division bench has now settled the legal position in Madhya Pradesh that only parents and senior citizens can approach the appellate tribunal under Section 16 of the Act.
