Bengaluru: In a significant property dispute case, the Karnataka High Court has delivered a decisive judgment, observing that a 'conspiracy' was underway to stay in the mother-in-law's house under the guise of the right to residence and subsequently acquire or usurp the property's ownership. The court dismissed the petition filed by a daughter-in-law challenging her eviction from the house.

Court's Decision and Observation

The daughter-in-law had filed a petition in the High Court challenging an order issued under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, which had directed her eviction from the house.The court strongly opined that the intention of the petitioner (the daughter-in-law) was not merely to gain the right to residence, but rather to usurp the ownership of the property. The primary objective of the Act is to protect the senior citizens who own the property. The court observed that the daughter-in-law's presence in the house was causing mental harassment and instability to them.

As per the Act, parents or senior citizens who own the property have the right to evict an unwanted person from the property. The court stood in favour of protecting the senior citizens, and by dismissing the daughter-in-law's plea, it made it clear that a conspiracy to usurp property ownership cannot be permitted.