Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ruled that parents can take back any property gifted to their son if the latter ill treats or harasses them.
A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudesai said this while hearing a petition filed by a son challenging a tribunal’s order that cancelled a gift deed given by his father, ruled in the latter’s favour as he was harassed by his son.
The court highlighted that the father had given the gift deed on the request of his son. Hence, it was implied that the son and his wife would take care of the father and his second wife after half of the share in the flat was transferred in the son’s name, the judges mentioned.
Although the son and daughter-in-law were ready to look after the father, they were unwilling to take care of his second wife, said the judges and in such circumstances there was no error in the tribunal’s order to cancel the gift deed, the judges ruled.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, has a provision to protect vulnerable parents and elderly people to whom they assets so that the person would take care of them.