New Delhi: In a landmark judgement, the Delhi High Court has held that property transferred by senior citizens to others through gift deeds can be taken back if the receivers do not take care of their needs, Bar and Bench has reported.
“Love and affection” are implied conditions in gift deeds by senior citizens to their family members. Hence, not providing maintenance to the senior citizen after the gift deed is executed would mean that the property was transferred through fraud or coercion and it can be declared void, a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ruled.
To attract the provisions of Section 23(1) of the Senior Citizens Act (allowing reclamation of the property if proper care is not provided), the deed in question need not expressly contain a condition that the transferee shall provide the basic amenities and basic physical needs to the transferor, especially in the context of execution of a gift feed.
“Human conduct in the context of the Senior Citizens Act is to be understood considering the relationship between the senior citizen and the beneficiaries of the gift deed and if parents decide to settle the property in favour of a son or daughter, then they do so only with love and affection and with a fond hope that they shall be taken care of in their old age and therefore, love and affection being the implied condition of execution of the gift deed, subsequent non-maintenance of the senior citizen would attract Section 23(1) of the Senior Citizens Act and the Tribunal in such circumstances is empowered to declare the document as void,” the Court observed.
The Bench made these observations while upholding the cancellation of a property gift deed executed by an 88-year-old woman, Daljit Kaur, in favour of her daughter-in-law.
The dispute began when Daljit Kaur moved the Maintenance Tribunal under Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. She alleged that after she transferred her Janakpuri property to Varinder Kaur in 2015, she was neglected, denied medical care and even threatened.
The Tribunal, in 2019, refused to cancel the deed but directed the local police to monitor her safety. On appeal, the District Magistrate overturned that decision in July 2023 and ordered cancellation of the gift deed.
Varinder Kaur challenged the ruling, arguing that Section 23 applies only where the gift deed explicitly states that the transferee will maintain the senior citizen. Since no such condition was written in the 2015 deed, she claimed the District Magistrate had no power to declare it as void.
The High Court rejected this interpretation, affirming that the law must be read in light of its purpose and that senior citizens cannot be left destitute after parting with their property.
The Court then upheld the cancellation of the deed and rejected the daughter-in-law’s appeal.