Bombay HC to state: Look out for the old expeditiously

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has pulled up the state for merely giving assurances regarding the provision of facilities for old persons in the state. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the delay by the state in implementing policies for the old, which they had submitted in court earlier and also criticised the state for setting up a non-performing tribunal where the old people could lodge their grievances.

The criticism was prompted after the petitioner complained that the revenue office appointed as the head of the tribunal was not meeting the complainants. The court also expressed concern over the growing number of old age people being turned out on the road due to lack of old age homes in the state.

A division bench of justices Ranjit More and S.S. Jadhav was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Mission Justice, an NGO seeking the courts intervention in the face of very few old age homes in the state.

Advocate Siddharth Murarka appearing on behalf of the NGO informed the court that since 2013 the state had come up with various schemes for the benefit of the senior citizens but all of them were only on paper. As a result of this many aged persons who were turned out of their homes were found on the roads in a destitute condition.

The state said that it was taking measures to put in place schemes for the benefit of the aged and needed more time for the same.

However, the bench rapped the counsel for the state and said, “You have been giving assurances and seeking time since 2013. The tribunal you set up is not serving the purpose as the senior citizens are asked to visit the tribunals at odd hours and after that the revenue officer does not meet them,” said the bench.

The court further said that the state cannot keep asking for time while more and more aged persons both in urban and rural areas keep suffering. The court asked the state to give an undertaking and clarify the role of the tribunal through an affidavit by May 4.