Odisha High Court orders 86-year-old father's son to leave ancestral home

In Odisha, an elderly retired civil servant accused his youngest son of ongoing humiliation and torture, which he said made it impossible to remain in the family’s ancestral home. After moving first to his eldest son’s house and then to his middle son’s residence, the father sought legal redress, filing two cases: one for eviction before the Sub-Collector in Bhubaneswar and another to remove his name from several land parcels registered in the son’s name.

The Sub-Collector had already ordered the son to vacate the ground floor of the Baramunda house and to treat his father respectfully. On March 17, 2026, the Orissa High Court partially upheld the father’s claim, directing the son to leave the premises while refusing to intervene in the separate property ownership dispute, which remains before a civil court. The judgment emphasized a purposive interpretation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, to protect the senior citizen’s dignity. Legal experts noted that the court’s approach protects elderly rights but expects procedural compliance for property matters.