Delhi High Court upholds seniors' right to evict family members from their home

On September 30, 2026, the Delhi High Court ruled that senior citizens may have family members evicted from their residences under Rule 22(3)(1)(i) and (iv) of the 2009 Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules when the occupants engage in non-maintenance or ill-treatment. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, dismissed a daughter-in-law's appeal that invoked a shared-household right under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

The court stressed that such a right must be weighed against the elder's entitlement to peaceful living, noting the daughter-in-law owned a separate home in Bahadurgarh and worked as a postgraduate teacher. Legal commentators explained that the eviction provision derives from Sections 22 and 32 of the 2007 Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act and does not require a prior monetary maintenance case. The decision aligns with recent Supreme Court guidance permitting eviction to protect seniors, but it does not create a blanket authority to evict every daughter-in-law; each situation must be assessed on its facts.