The ongoing vagueness over filing of appeals under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, had provoked the Delhi High Court to clarify the appellate jurisdiction. It was stated that orders passed by the first forum i.e. Additional District Magistrate/ Sub Division Magistrate is appealable before the Appellate Tribunal lead by the Deputy Commissioner.
Subsequently the orders pertaining to eviction matters from the first forum i.e. Deputy Commissioner/ District Magistrate are appealable before the Divisional Commissioner.
Background of the Case
The pronouncement came pursuant to writ petition instituted against the order of eviction passed by first forum against the petitioner under the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2009.
It was submitted by the State that the impugned order is appealable to the Divisional Commissioner under Rule 22 (3) (4) of the Rules and the petitioner should be given the opportunity to avail the same.
Observation of the Court
The High Court observed that a “large number of writ petitions” are filed before it against orders passed under the Act, as also the Rules which could be due to some confusion as to which orders are appealable, to which forum and by whom.
“In order to properly appreciate the scheme of the Act and the Rules thereto, it is necessary to set out the provisions which are applicable separately qua maintenance and eviction proceedings, as amended on 19 th December, 2016”, the Court said.
It then set out the scheme of the Act in detail adding that Rules and Notifications under the Act are not readily available to the litigants and lawyers which could be one of the reasons for the confusion.
“The Act and various Rules and Notifications thereto are not only readily available to litigants, as also lawyers, in the form of a separate publication. This may be one of the causes for confusion in filing multiple writ petitions directly against the first order of the tribunal or, in the case of eviction, from the order of the Deputy Commissioner”.
Considering that in most cases, the appellate forum and the period of limitation is not within the knowledge of litigants and sometimes even lawyers, the Court directed the appellate forum and the 60-day limitation period for filing of appeal shall be stated in all orders passed by the first forum.
The Court also issued directions with respect to the copy of the present order and stated that the same should be placed at the High Court filing counter so that whenever there are filings of writ petitions against the original orders, the Registry can inform the lawyers about the alternate remedy, in case they wish to avail of the same.
Similarly in the present case, the impugned order was appealable to the Divisional Commissioner; the Court thus allowed the withdrawing of the petition.
Case Details
Before: Delhi High Court
Case Title: Rakhi Sharma vs. State
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Pratibha M. Singh
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