S.23 Senior Citizens Act | Express Recital In Gift Deed For Maintenance By Transferee Not Mandatory: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that a gift deed through which a senior citizen transfers his property to the transferee need not contain an "express recital" of maintenance of the senior citizen, to claim that such transfer is void under Section 23 Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act.In doing so the court held that maintenance of senior citizen under Section 23 is implicit wherein the provision seeks to protect the trusting nature of senior citizens, who may be financially dependent on children and rely on trust and moral expectations. Section 23 (transfer of property to be void in certain circumstances) states that any senior citizen who has transferred by way of gift or otherwise, his property subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide the basic amenities, physical needs and who refuses or fails to provide it, the transfer of property shall be deemed to have been made by fraud, coercion or under undue influence.Justice Suraj Govindraj in his order said:"I am therefore of the considered opinion that the condition of maintenance under Section 23 is implicit when a senior citizen or parent transfers his self-acquired property particularly by way of gift or relinquishment, without consideration in favour of his son or daughter. The law must account for the social reality that senior citizens act on trust, familial assurances, and moral expectations rather than on legal formalities. In our society, aged parents rarely insist upon written stipulations while transferring property to their children. Such transfers are ordinarily founded on social norms and moral obligations, which the Act of 2007 seeks to protect and enforce through statutory intervention. The trusting nature of senior citizens, especially in rural Karnataka, coupled with emotional and financial dependence on their children, is a social reality expressly recognised by the Act. To insist upon an express recital of maintenance in every such gift deed would defeat the protective object of the statute and render Section 23 nugatory. I am therefore of the considered view that the obligation to maintain a senior citizen can validly be inferred from the surrounding circumstances, the relationship between the parties, and their subsequent conduct, and that an express recital in the deed of transfer is not mandatory for invoking Section 23(1) of the Act of 2007"The court said that for invoking Section 23(1) the absence of an express recital in a gift deed obligating the transferee to maintain the senior citizen does not disentitle the transferor from seeking annulment of the transfer. It said that the statute does not mandate a written condition of maintenance, but what is material is "whether, on the basis of pleadings, surrounding circumstances, relationship of the parties, and subsequent conduct, it can be inferred that the transfer was made on the assurance, express or implied, of care and maintenance". "Where a gift deed is drafted by the donees and executed by an illiterate senior citizen on trust and familial assurances, an allegation of an oral understanding to provide care is sufficient compliance with Section 23(1), and insistence on an express contractual clause would defeat the protective object of the Act...an express recital in the gift deed obligating the donees to maintain the senior citizen is not mandatory for invoking Section 23(1) of the Act of 2007, and that such obligation can be inferred from the surrounding circumstances and conduct of the parties," the court held. BackgroundThe petitioner father, a senior citizen, has four children He contended that his daughters Shivamma and Puttamma assured him that they would take care of his maintenance, wellbeing, and daily needs during his old age. On the basis of such assurance, they had fraudulently procured a gift deed transferring the father's land in their favour and registered before the jurisdictional Sub-Registrar. The names of the two daughters were mutated in the revenue records. Soon thereafter, the daughters neglected the Petitioner and failed to provide him with food, shelter, and other basic necessities. The Petitioner filed an application under Section 23(1) Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, seeking annulment of the gift deed before the authorities. During the pendency of the proceedings before the Assistant Commissioner, one of the daughters, Shivamma, expired; she was survived by her son, Respondent No.6, who was brought on record as her legal representative. The other daughter, Respondent No.5 – Puttamma, entered appearance before the Assistant Commissioner and categorically stated that she had no objection to the application being allowed. However, Respondent No.6 filed objections contending that the Petitioner possessed several ancestral properties and that the application under Section 23(1) of the Act of 2007 was motivated by ill...

S.23 Senior Citizens Act | Express Recital In Gift Deed For Maintenance By Transferee Not Mandatory: Karnataka High Court

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