Senior Citizen Not Entitled To Receive Maintenance From Children Unless Shows Inability To Maintain Himself: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has held that simply being a 'senior citizen' does not automatically entitle a person to receive maintenance from children unless shown that he/she is unable to maintain himself/herself from own earnings or out of owned property. While clarifying the position of law under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the Single Bench of Justice Sashikanta Mishra observed – “Thus, an order of maintenance can be passed on the finding that the children or the relatives, as the case may be, have neglected or refused to maintain a senior citizen being unable to maintain himself.” Case Background The petitioner is the son of opposite party no.3. Above all, he alleged that the Tribunal as well as the Appellate Authority failed to consider Rule 14 of the Odisha Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2009, which provides for the mode of calculation of the maximum maintenance allowance, while fixing the maintenance amount. Notably, Rule 14 says that, “the maximum maintenance allowance which a Tribunal may order the opposite party to pay shall, subject to a maximum of rupees ten thousand per month/be fixed in such a manner that it does not exceed the monthly income from all sources of the opposite party, divided by the number of persons in his family, counting the applicant or applicants also among the opposite party's family members”.