No eviction power for DMs under senior citizens Act, says HC

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 25

The High Court has struck down the provision of an “action plan” issued by the Punjab Government for senior citizens that granted the powers of eviction to district magistrates. As a necessary corollary of the order, the rights of the parties, including senior citizens, would now be determined by the civil courts.

The HC also made it clear Punjab Action Plan, 2014, was an executive order and district magistrate did not possess the power of eviction. The action plan was also open to “wide abuse of the process of law in the hands of the executive”.

Holding that a district magistrate-cum-maintenance tribunal set up under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act was not an “eviction tribunal”, the Bench struck down as unconstitutional three clauses in the action plan that laid down the procedure for ‘eviction’ and conferred the power in the district magistrate.

The prescribed procedure suggested complaints received regarding life and property of senior citizens would be forwarded to the district magistrate for further action. The process would begin if district magistrate was of opinion that a son, daughter or legal heir of a senior citizen/parents were in unauthorised occupation of any property and required to be evicted.

Justice Rajiv Narain Raina asserted the action plan suffered from procedural lapses in introducing into the maintenance tribunal the substantive law of eviction for the first time — a provision which was harsh and oppressive. Justice Raina asserted: “To my mind, judgement and utter disbelief, the action plan fails to pass the acid tests of judicial review and is held to be still born.”