Son Cannot Have Right On Parents Property While They Are Alive: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court ruled out on Saturday that a son cannot have a right, title, or interest in his parents' flats/ property while they are still alive. A woman named Sonia Khan filed the petition, requesting that she be declared the legal guardian of all properties owned by her husband, who had been in a vegetative state for a long time.

Asif Khan, Sonia's son, had filed an intervention in her mother's petition claiming to be his father's "de-facto guardian" for many years. He contended that, even though his parents were still alive, there were two flats, one owned by each of his parents, that he described as "a shared household.". He also mentioned that he had an enforceable legal right or entitlement to either or both of these flats.

Justice Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar of Mumbai High court dismissed Asif Khan's intervention. There was no single piece of documentation to show that the son had ever looked after his parents even lived elsewhere. As the Court stated in the hearing, "In any conceptualization of succession law for any community or faith, Asif (son) can have no right, title or interest whatsoever in either of these flats — one in his father's name and other in his mother's name — so long as his parents are alive."

Court Deemed Arguments' To Be 'Ill-Founded And Illogical'

The bench further added that the suggestion that Asif has a settled and enforceable share in either of the flats in the lifetimes of the real owners, his parents, is laughable. It reiterated that the fact that he is their son does not make either of their flats 'a shared household', reported India Today.

As per the details, Asif's father has had dementia since 2011. He receives oxygen through his nose, is fed through a Ryles tube, and has a Foley catheter. And has spontaneous eye movements due to which he is unable to maintain eye contact, speak, understand, sign, or make any decisions

. And none of the above concerns were taken care of by Asif but from his mother, Sonia Khan. Asif's arguments were deemed "ill-founded and illogical" by the Court, as claimed to be his father's "de-facto guardian" and his rights on his property. The Court reasoned that there was no provision in any community's succession law for a son to claim right or title to a parent's property while they are alive.

Denial On Asif Khan's Claim

The Court also rejected Asif Khan's claim on his mother Sonia Khan, that she has an alternate remedy for moving the committee under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, reported The Times of India. Keeping the petition pending, they permitted the mother to operate a joint bank account to meet her husband's expenses and negotiate for the sale of two flats in Marol but not seal the deal without the HC's nod.

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