Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court has clarified that the relevant date to determine whether a person qualifies as a “senior citizen” under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 is the date of filing of the application before the Maintenance Tribunal, not the date of adjudication.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta held so while allowing the appeal of 80-year-old Kamalakant Mishra and his wife against a Bombay High Court ruling which had struck down the eviction of their son.

The case arose after the couple, aggrieved by the conduct of their eldest son who had taken possession of two of their properties in Mumbai and denied them residence, approached the Maintenance Tribunal in July 2023. At the time of the application, the son was 59 years old. The Tribunal directed his eviction and also ordered him to pay maintenance of ₹3,000 per month. This order was upheld by the Appellate Authority in September 2024.

However, the Bombay High Court, by its judgment dated April 25, 2025, quashed the eviction order, holding that since the son was born on July 4, 1964, he had crossed 60 by then and was himself a senior citizen under Section 2(h) of the Act. It concluded that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to order eviction against another senior citizen.

The Supreme Court firmly rejected this reasoning. It held that the determinative factor was the respondent's age on the date of filing of the application. Since the application was filed on July 12, 2023, when the son was 59 years old, he did not fall within the definition of a senior citizen, and the Tribunal's jurisdiction was rightly invoked.

"The High Court in allowing the appeal has proceeded on the presumption that the respondent is also a senior citizen as per section 2(h) of the Act, as his date of birth is 04.07.1964. It observed that the Tribunal could not have allowed appellant's complaint since it was made against another senior citizen. This in our view is erroneous. The record shows that the appellant had moved an application before the Tribunal on 12.07.2023 and at that point in time, the respondent's age was 59 years. Relevant date for consideration would be the date of filing the application before the Tribunal."

Also from the judgment - Child Can Be Evicted From Senior Citizen Parent's Property If There's Breach Of Obligation To Maintain Parents : Supreme Court

Case : Kamalakant Mishra v. Additional Collector and others

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 947

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