Sons turn their back on father, fail to honour order

In the first week of December, the Tribunal under Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, had ordered the five sons of 77-year-old Bhoja Shetty to pay a monthly allowance of Rs 10,000 and to provide a rented house to their father.

Three weeks have passed and the five sons have shown no sign of paying the monthly allowance and providing a rented house to their father, as ordered by the Tribunal.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Human Rights Protection Foundation President Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag said with the sons not complying the tribunal’s orders, Bhoja Shetty, who suffers from many old age-related ailments, has been struggling to get two square meals a day.

Shetty began facing ill-treatment after he committed the mistake of gifting the properties, including a house and five acres of agricultural land, to his children. Shetty had acquired five acres of agricultural land under the Land Reforms Act. He had performed the marriage of his two daughters and ensured that all his five sons were settled in good jobs. After working in his land for over 35 years, in 1995, he handed his property to five sons and two daughters.

He entered into an agreement with his children who promised to give a monthly allowance to help him lead a life with dignity in 1995. When none of the sons payed the monthly allowance, Shetty filed a complaint to the Senior Citizens’ Tribunal in Kundapur seeking assistance to lead a dignified life.

The children had promised to provide monthly allowance while deposing before the conciliation officer appointed by the district administration for settlement of the cases.

In December 2019, Tribunal directed the five sons to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 2000 under the col (9) of the Act. The Tribunal had also ordered the sons to relocated their father to rented accommodation. Even after receiving the copy of judgment from the Tribunal, none of the sons had paid any allowance to their father, Shanbhag said.

Shetty has approached Welfare Officer in DC’s office for implementation of the Tribunal’s orders.

Shanbhag said the sons in Mumbai and Goa, who were successful entrepreneurs, had refused to release the allowance. Shetty ekes out a living as a watchman in a factory and by making concrete blocks in Varanga near Mudradi village. The non-compliance of Tribunal’s orders will be punished with imprisonment or slapping of a with hefty fine.