DCs take up parents eviction cases

Federal government introduced law to protect rights of senior citizens

LAHORE:

People ousted from their homes by their children have begun to benefit from a law imposed by the federal government to protect the rights of parents by getting their complaints addressed at the deputy commissioners' offices.

Instead of pursuing court proceedings for a long time, the elderly complainants get justice from the DCs within a week under the new system.

The move to involve the district administration officials in protecting the rights of senior citizens comes amid frustration over delay of years in the justice system, especially in property disputes.

In a large number of cases, parents have been evicted by their children from houses built by them with their whole life's savings. The number of people residing in old age homes has also increased because of delay in the resolution of such disputes.

In view of the problems, the federal government introduced the Parental Protection Bill.

Under the law, Punjab, like other provinces. has given all the deputy commissioners the power to hear such cases immediately, consider the stance of both the parties and provide justice immediately within the realm of the facts and law.

The judicial powers have been given to the district administration with the hope for speedy provision of justice.

Some elderly parents already have succeeded in getting back their homes with the help of the administration.

In the past 25 days, about 40 cases related to protection of parents have come to the Lahore Deputy Commissioner's Office.

Deputy Commissioner Mudassar Riaz and other officers took immediate decisions in more than 25 cases and the parents have been given possession of the property occupied by their children.

Read Abandoned by families, elderly women find shelter

One of the complainants said the elderly people had earlier lost hope of getting justice in such cases due to the prolonged proceedings.

Deputy Commissioner Riaz said while speaking to The Express Tribune that the initiative had already started benefitting the elderly parents.

"We meet all the legal requirements by summoning both the parties and take a decision within a week. So far, proceedings on 80% of the received applications have been completed and the rest are being processed," he said.

Replying to a question, he said the judicial process should also be improved to provide justice to the citizens at the earliest.

However, a former president of Lahore Bar Association, Advocate GA Khan Tariq said the move was tantamount to interference of the administration in the judiciary, which the lawyers considered wrong.

He said the rulers had taken the decision in a bid for point scoring against the existing system.

In response to a question, he said it had been decided earlier that old and new cases would be decided in three to six months, but it had not been implemented.

Pertaining to curbing the forceful eviction of parents in the country, President Arif Alvi on May 8 passed the Parents Protection Ordinance (PPO) 2021.

President Alvi exercised his prerogative as laid out by the Constitution of Pakistan under Article 89 that the President may make and promulgate an Ordinance, as the circumstances may require.

The PPO 2021 also restricts children, who own the property or have rented the space themselves, in forcing out their parents of the house.

Separately, if the parents want their children out of the house that the parents own or have rented, the children will be held responsible for not obeying the instructions.

The children must leave the house of their parents within 30 days of the written notice issued by the parents and failing to do so might land them in jail for 30 days or slap a fine on them or both.

The deputy commissioner of any district now has the power to move against the children upon complaint by parents.

The action against such children whose parents have made formal complaints falling under the ambit of this ordinance will require no warrant.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2021.