Karnataka High Court: a property transfer by a senior citizen can be cancelled under Section 23 even without a written care clause
23 October 2026
The Karnataka High Court has ruled that a senior citizen may ask for a property transfer to be cancelled even when the deed carries no written promise to look after him. The power used was Section 23, under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. An elderly man from Bhadravathi taluk in Shivamogga district had released his share of farmland to his daughter by a 2025 deed. After his wife died, the Assistant Commissioner cancelled the deed on his plea. Justice Suraj Govindaraj dismissed the daughter's challenge: where a transfer rested on an understanding of care, the authority must test that claim on the facts. A receipt shown as proof of payment was found doubtful, and the court advised that care duties be written into such deeds.
In plain words
Section 23 Section 23, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 — Lets a tribunal declare a senior citizen's property transfer void if the receiver fails to provide basic care.
Release deed Release deed — A document by which a co-owner gives up his share in a property to another.
Maintenance Tribunal Maintenance Tribunal — The body under the 2007 Act, headed by an officer not below Sub-Divisional Officer, that hears parents' claims.