SC concerned over murders of elderly in Capital

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over murders of the elderly in the Capital while hearing a plea on implementation of provisions aimed at penalising people who do not take care of their old parents.

“Even in Delhi, we read in newspapers regularly that elderly people are being murdered. There is a need to protect the interest of the old people,” said a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran.

The court was hearing of a PIL filed in 2004, seeking implementation of the National Policy on Older Persons adopted by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, which envisages programmes for the care of the elderly.

The policy aims at encouraging individuals to make provisions for their own as well as their spouses for social security during their old age and to encourage their family to take care of them. During the hearing, the bench was told that Parliament has passed a Bill aimed at penalising children and relatives of the elderly who do not take care of them. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill is awaiting the President’s assent.

The Centre said orders passed on this petition were complied with and every state was making efforts to ensure security of the elderly by constituting grievance cells.
However, counsel for petitioner J S Bawa drew the court’s attention that adequate steps had not been taken by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in this regard.

On this, the bench asked the two states to apprise it of the steps taken by them to address the problems of the elderly. The court was told that the Delhi government had taken steps in this direction.