Kathmandu. A state high court in India has ruled that senior citizens can cancel old pension certificates (not just the last ones but also the most recent ones) at any time if their children or close relatives fail to take care of them.
The Madras High Court, in a recent judgment in a dispute, has said that senior citizens can cancel pension certificates issued in their name, regardless of what is written in the terms of the pension certificate, if their children or close relatives fail to take care of them. A division bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and K Rajasekhar, along with this order, also dismissed a petition filed by S Mala, daughter-in-law of the deceased S Nagalakshmi.
Initially, Nagalakshmi had issued a pension certificate in favor of her son Keshavan, hoping that her son-in-law would take care of her for the rest of her life. But after her son’s death, the daughter-in-law ignored her. She approached the Dispute Resolution Officer and got the agreement cancelled. Challenging this, the daughter-in-law Mala filed an application, but the Dispute Resolution Committee dismissed the application. After the local Dispute Resolution Committee did not hear her, Mala approached the High Court.
The bench said that Section 23 of the Care and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 was brought to provide protection to senior citizens in cases where their property is transferred by way of gift or agreement, where the recipient is expected to ensure the basic amenities of the transferor. If the recipient of the property fails to fulfill these obligations, the senior citizen has the option of seeking justice from the tribunal to cancel the transfer of the property, the bench added.
