SC sets aside Karnataka HC order on eviction of woman from in-laws place under Senior Citizens Act

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that a social welfare legislation, the Senior Citizens Act 2007 cannot be interpreted in a manner to evict the daughter-in-law from her shared household.

The daughter-in-law is otherwise entitled to the shares under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

The top court set aside the Karnataka High Court's order of September 17, 2019 directing a woman to evict the residential house belonging to her mother-in-law in North Bengaluru. The HC had upheld the order of the Deputy Commissioner, passed under the Senior Citizens Act, 2007. The HC also said the remedy of the woman for maintenance and shelter lied only against her estranged husband.

"Allowing the Senior Citizens Act 2007 to have an overriding force and effect in all situations, irrespective of competing entitlements of a woman to a right in a shared household within the meaning of the PWDV Act 2005, would defeat the object and purpose sought to be achieved in enacting the latter legislation," a three-judge bench presided over by Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

The top court allowed the woman's appeal with Rs 25,000 cost and restrained her in-laws and husband who tried to dispossess her from the premises and also from selling the house for one year to enable her to pursue her remedies under the Domestic Violence Act.

"We have also seen the series of transactions which took place in respect of the property: the woman's spouse purchased it in his own name a few months before the marriage but subsequently sold it, after a few years, under a registered sale deed at the same price to his father (the father-in-law of the woman), who in turn gifted it to his spouse i.e. the mother-in-law after divorce proceedings were instituted by the husband," the bench said.

The court said merely because the ownership of the property has been subsequently transferred to her in-laws or that her estranged spouse was now residing separately, was no ground to deprive the woman of the protection under the Domestic Violence Act.

The court pointed out that the law protecting the interest of senior citizens is intended to ensure that they are not left destitute, or at the mercy of their children or relatives. Equally, the purpose of the PWDV Act 2005 cannot be ignored by a sleight of statutory interpretation.

"Both sets of legislations have to be harmoniously construed. Hence the right of a woman to secure a residence order in respect of a shared household cannot be defeated by the simple expedient of securing an order of eviction by adopting the summary procedure under the Senior Citizens Act 2007," the bench, also comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee said.