The Bombay high court on Monday sought to know from the government of Maharashtra what steps it has taken to set up shelter homes for elderly people who have been abandoned by their relatives.
The court was hearing a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL) after a 68-year-old woman who owned property worth Rs 30 crores was found to be living the last few years of her life in inhuman and terrible conditions. Her brothers and nephews lived abroad and there was nobody to look after her. She was shifted to JJ Hospital only after her neighbours intervened.
The division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere showed displeasure when they were informed that when the neighbours approached the police they did not act because of jurisdiction issues. The judges said as per Supreme Court guidelines the police should first help the victim and then only get into details such as if the case fell under their jurisdiction or not. The woman died in a hospital on January 9. Judges observed that despite there being a ‘Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007’, the maintenance and care of the old woman was not done by her relatives. “It is then the responsibility of the state to take care of her,” the judges added.
The judges were of the view that the state should examine the scope of the said Act and file an affidavit stating what steps it has taken to establish old age homes.
The woman’s body has still not been claimed and the judges have asked the authorities to hand over the body to her first cousin and if he is not ready to take the body than her second cousin. The bench has also made it clear that her property will remain in possession of court until further orders.
In the meantime the state has been asked to file its affidavit in two weeks.
