M. VENUGOPAL Vs. DISTRICT MAGISTRATE CUM DISTRICT COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Indian society has a long cherished tradition to respect and protect the elders. It is the pious obligation of the siblings to maintain their parents and grandparents. The great saint Tamil poet ?Avvaiyar? said ?Annaiyum Pithavum Munnari Deivam? which means mother and father are the first God known to the children. Until few decades, in the past, these traditions, heritage and moral values were taught at the schools as part of curriculum. Since, the children learnt these invaluable tenets, in their childhood, it was not required to remind them of their obligation towards the elders, by making any law to respect and protect them. In recent years, under the guise of preparing the younger generation to compete globally in knowledge sharing and employment, we have gradually removed the moral studies from the school curriculum. On the other side of the coin, when the joint family system was in prevalence, the grandparents, in order to at-least while away their time, used to tell moral stories to their grandchildren. ?Patti Kathaigal? (Grandmother's stories) played a major role to imbibe good qualities in the children. Now joint family system has also slowly faded away. As a result, the children hardly have the golden opportunity of learning moral values from the elders also. As a consequence, we have witnessed crimes by juvenile delinquents on the increase. Even the Government is forced to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act to treat the Juveniles on par with adults in respect of certain heinous crimes. Feeling of togetherness has vanished. Love and respect for the elders have diminished. Some, among the younger generation, do also forget to maintain their parents. They are left in the lurch in the evening of their life. So, the Government had to think of converting the pious obligation to maintain the parents as a legal obligation. Thus, for the first time in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, provision was made for payment of maintenance to the parents who are unable to maintain themselves. Though a claim for maintenance is in the nature of a civil claim, the said provision was inserted in the Criminal Procedure Code thereby giving jurisdiction to Judicial Magistrates hoping that it would be less expensive and speedy. But in course of time, the hope was belied. The aged parents continue to suffer. Many of them have to spend their life in old age homes.

(2.) Taking note of the above hard realities, in order to make the procedure easier, less expensive and to be on fast track, the Government has brought into force a completely new legislation viz., "The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007". This Act aims at compelling the children to pay maintenance to the parents and also to the other senior citizens by their relatives. It also contains provision for measures for protection of the senior citizens. Thus, the object of the act is though laudable, it is unfortunate that the younger generation have to be compelled by means of such a legislation to take care of the elders. What was all along considered to be a pious obligation is now a legal obligation. Those younger generation who fail to discharge their pious obligation towards the elders are now forced to discharge their legal obligation to maintain them. Though one is to be optimistic about the Act, the fact remains that the framework of the Act in its present form may hardly yield the desired result. The case on hand illustrates the same.

(3.) The 3rd respondent is a senior citizen, aged 72 years. He has got three sons and two daughters. All of them are married and they are living separately and thus the joint family has disintegrated. The petitioner is the youngest son of the 3rd respondent. The wife of the 3rd respondent died few years before. The 3rd respondent further claims that he has been living separately and he has not been taken care of by any of his children.