Gomti Devi vs The National Capital Territory Of Delhi And Ors

Navin Chawla, J

The present petition has been filed by the petitioner inter alia praying for the following reliefs:

"(a) a Writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the Respondent no. 1 to formulate rules in respect of the unclaimed goods which are recovered from the premises of the senior citizen at the time of taking possession of the premises in pursuance of the order of vacation of the premises passed by District Magistrate in the interest of justice as per section 32 of The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007.

(b) Direct the Respondent no. 4 (SHO) to keep the custody of the goods seized by Ct. Anil of P.S. Sarai Rohilla on 05.04.2019 from the premises of the petitioner forthwith.

(c) to direct the respondent no. 6 may kindly be make the payment of Rs. 19,000/- (Rupees nineteen thousand) from the date of vacation of the premises i.e. as per list of goods i.e. 05.04.2019 till the date of taking the custody by the S.H.O. or by the Respondent no. 6.

(d) order or direct the Respondent No. 6 to take charge of the articles as per list prepared on 05.04.2019."

The present petition has been filed by the petitioner alleging that pursuant to the order of eviction dated 05.03.2019, passed by the District Magistrate, (Central) Darya Ganj, New Delhi, in case No. 007/2018 titled Smt. Gomti Devi vs. Smt. Nandini Sharma, under the maintenance and welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'), respondent no. 6 was ordered to be evicted from property bearing no. A-114, 2nd and 3rd Floor, Shastri Nagar, Delhi and hand over the vacant physical possession of the same to the petitioner within 30 days of receipt of the order. Paragraph 22 of the said order further directed as under:

"22. The SHO P.S. Sarai Rohilla and SDM Kotwali shall ensure compliance of the above said order and also ensure that life and property of the applicant, Smt. Gomti Devi, who is a senior citizen, is secured and that no harassment is caused to her in any way whatsoever."

In compliance with the above direction, the respondent no. 6 was evicted from the above property by the SHO, Police Station Sarai Rohilla and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Kotwalia on 05.04.2019. However, the articles belonging to the respondent no. 6 were not claimed by the respondent no. 6 and at own cost of the petitioner and on instructions of the SHO as also the bailiff, the said articles were sought to be delivered to the mother of the respondent no. 6. As she also refused to take delivery of those articles, the same have been put in a vehicle which is parked near the residence of the petitioner, burdening the petitioner with additional costs.

The petitioner, therefore, filed an application before the District Magistrate praying for direction to the SHO, Police Station Sarai Rohilla, to take decision as to the said articles belonging to the respondent no. 6. However, no order was passed. A similar request was also made to the DCP, District (North-West).

While the District Magistrate has not passed any order on the application of the petitioner, the DCP has stated that the application be transferred to the District Magistrate office (Central).

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in absence of any rules regarding the custody of the articles, the Authorities are not passing any order regarding the same, consequently, burdening the petitioner with further costs.

In my view, the above situation would clearly defeat the purpose for which the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 has been enacted. Once the order of eviction has been passed on an application filed by a senior citizen, the senior citizen cannot thereafter be burdened with cost of securing the articles that were physically removed in execution of such an order.

The respondent no. 1 should therefore, consider framing appropriate rules in this regard. At the same time and looking into the grievance and plight of the petitioner, the goods of the respondent no. 6 would be allowed to be handed over by the petitioner to the SHO, Police Station, Sarai Rohilla, that is respondent no. 5, who may, thereafter, deal with the same in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 or obtain necessary directions from the District Magistrate (Central).

It is made clear that this order has been passed due to peculiar circumstances of the present case as the respondent no. 6 has refused to receive the said articles even after the filing of the present petition. The same shall not be considered as a precedent.

A copy of this order be also sent to the Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, for taking necessary action.

The petition is disposed of with the above directions. There shall be no order as to costs.