MUMBAI, Oct. 30 -- The Bombay High Court recently upheld a senior citizen's right to property by directing his son and grandson to hand over a flat back to him, after finding out that the old man was coerced into signing the flat's gift deed during his hospitalisation, and was later neglected and humiliated. Observing that the right of parents and senior citizens to maintenance is recognised under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the single judge bench of Justice N.J. Jamadar held that, "The senior citizen, who now claims to be 88 years of age, is entitled to the protection of his right to property". The family dispute between the elderly man and his son in 2021, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. In August 2022, when the former was hospitalised, the son allegedly forced him to execute a partnership deed in respect of his firm and a gift deed transferring ownership of a flat in Parel to his son and his grandson. After the transfer, the senior alleged that they withdrew Rs.50 lakh from his accounts and later deprived him of basic care. Although their relatives tried to resolve the issue amicably, the son declined to cater to the father's needs. The senior then to approach the maintenance tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. The son resisted the application by stating that his father had executed the gift deed out of his own volition, and there was no element of fraud, duress or coercion. The tribunal in May declared the gift deed "void". On August 14, the district collector upheld the tribunal judgment. The son then approached the high court. The court, in its judgment on October 3, said that the transfer or a gift is subject to the condition that the transferee shall provide the amenities, needs and necessities to the transferor/senior citizen. "Such an expectation is implicit in the very act of transfer," it observed. Finding no perversity or infirmity in the earlier orders, the judge dismissed the petition and granted a time of three weeks to the petitioners to remove their belongings from the flat....