The Bombay High Court restrained Maharashtra government today from considering its proposal to allot a five-acre land for a home for aged citizens.
A bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Ajay Gadkari asked the state not to allot any such land without the court's permission and without inviting tenders.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Mission Justice, a Non-Governmental Organisation working for the welfare of senior citizens, alleging that the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act is not being implemented although the legislation had been enacted in 2007.
Considering the allegations made in the petition that some homes for aged senior citizens to be run by the government were handed over to NGOs, the bench asked the state to conduct a survey about how many such institutions were managed by private trusts.
Under the Act, homes for the aged set up by the government cannot be allowed to be run by NGOs, the court noted.
Government pleader Dhariyasheel Nalawade said there are three categories of homes for the aged namely those run by the central government, the state government and NGOs.
Altogether, there are 193 homes in the state with a total of 7,068 beds, he said.
Counsel for the petitioner Sidharth Murarka alleged that the state is duty-bound to implement the Act and the government had failed to create awareness about rights of senior citizens.
