Overview
- A division bench of Justices Riyaz I Chagla and Farhan P Dubash on December 8 set aside Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal orders evicting a 53-year-old man and his wife from an Andheri bungalow owned by his 75-year-old father.
- The court found the father had made no maintenance claim, alleged no harassment, lived in a 1,600 sq ft Juhu flat, owned multiple properties, and had never resided in the disputed bungalow.
- A 2013 written declaration from the father permitting the son and his wife to live in the bungalow and conduct business there rent-free was taken on record.
- The judges documented failed settlement efforts in which the son offered the ground floor to the father, noted the son pays property expenses, and recorded that eviction would leave him without another home.
- The bench observed the eviction bid appeared to be a counter-blast to the son's 2019 partition suit and ruled the authorities misapplied the Senior Citizens Act by ignoring material facts.