Law for elderly can’t override daughter-in-law’s residence rights: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that a daughter-in-law's right to reside in a shared household cannot be overridden by proceedings under the Senior Citizens Act, according to a September 28 ruling. The court emphasized that senior citizens' rights and women's residence rights must be considered together. The decision came in a plea challenging the divisional commissioner's order upholding the eviction of a woman from the matrimonial household.

The court noted that the protection offered by the Senior Citizens Act cannot be used to force a daughter-in-law out of the premises she claims to have occupied as her matrimonial/shared home. The case involved multiple legal disputes, including a civil suit, divorce proceedings, guardianship matters, domestic violence allegations, and an FIR for dowry demand and cruelty.

The woman's father-in-law had passed away in 2018 without a valid will, leading her in-laws to execute a relinquishment deed in 2019, transferring their shares to their mother. The mother-in-law later sought eviction of her son and daughter-in-law under the Senior Citizens Act. The district magistrate ordered the eviction in March 2025, but the daughter-in-law appealed the decision in September 2025.

The court ultimately held that the Senior Citizens Act and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act cannot be used to override each other. It stated that a relinquishment deed between family members does not automatically extinguish a woman's legal right of residence, especially when a minor child is involved.