ct 01 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Justice delayed remains justice denied for older population
Sushma Batra
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Today when we celebrate the International Day for the Elderly do we really have respect for them which they command because of the productive servings done by them by being a contributory member to the society as well as to this Nation? The age at which they become vulnerable is actually an age when their persona needs to be respected. The loneliness and vulnerability is likely to increase with the increasing age. The loved ones and significant others have left by now for the heavenly abode and those who remain and become old are at the mercy of their own children.With the increasing disability with age and inability to meet their daily living requirements many of them are at the mercy of the care givers and the family members. As the joint family system is breaking down, the problem is further aggravated because in a number of instances you find the people known to them waiting for an opportunity to grab their hard earned possessions, by hook or crook. As a result, the older people remain vulnerable and fail to fight their battle. Especially at this age, they look towards the state and its legal machinery which should ideally serve as a means of solace.Unfortunately, often the elderly pass through a difficult and tedious process. Though in the metropolitan cities, the tribunals as well as the National Council for Senior Citizens are in existence but they are hardly efficient in providing relief to our older people.
They are treated at par with other citizens by the courts and there is a long gap between subsequent hearings. They are charged heavily by the so-called lawyers for meeting their legal fees. The entire life's savings which should ideally have been spent on their own maintenance are spent on lawyers. Alas! Courts and legal machinery can wait but life does not wait. This issue can be well explained by the trauma being faced by 88-year-old widow Gian Devi Mehta. Two years ago, this fragile `super-senior-citizen' received a copy of an ex-parte stay awarded by High Court to a trespasser `goon', who had forcefully occupied her house where she lived alone. This stay was like end of the road for her. Gian Devi Mehta has served the society for forty long years as a school teacher by imparting good teaching and values to the upcoming generation and she herself is counting days by lying down in the hospital waiting for the end to come while judiciary takes its own course and goons continue to occupy her sole belonging, that is her house. In her case and in number of so many instances other senior citizens the justice delayed remains justice denied in their life time.
The relevant questions that arise are: How are stays granted to unrightful people without listening to the other party when it is well known that the legal process takes more than `one life time' to decide? Is it not a case of justice delayed is justice denied? What is the relief to senior and super senior citizens at courts? How is the legal system protecting the senior citizens viza-viz their life and property?
Over the last few decades the length of human life has increased most dramatically. That is to say, the better education, health facilities and increase in life expectancy, the percentage of elderly population (60+) has gone up from 5.3 to 5.7 percent and 6.0 to 8.0 percent during the periods of 1971 to 1981 and 1991 to 2011. This has mainly been possible because of the medical advances made in extending better care facilities to our senior citizens.The average longevity has gone up.Though the average age has gone up, the existing health facilities have not been able to keep pace with the provision of appropriate care to our older population. With the breakdown of the joint family norm and values in our younger generation, the old people on occasions also receive neglect, abuse from their own children. As they age, issues faced by them increase many fold. Those who provided care to their children all their life by remaining productive become vulnerable at an age. And here it becomes necessary for the state to ensure economic, social and legal protection so that athey do not become the most vulnerable section of the society.
(The writer is Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi)
They are treated at par with other citizens by the courts and there is a long gap between subsequent hearings. They are charged heavily by the so-called lawyers for meeting their legal fees. The entire life's savings which should ideally have been spent on their own maintenance are spent on lawyers. Alas! Courts and legal machinery can wait but life does not wait. This issue can be well explained by the trauma being faced by 88-year-old widow Gian Devi Mehta. Two years ago, this fragile `super-senior-citizen' received a copy of an ex-parte stay awarded by High Court to a trespasser `goon', who had forcefully occupied her house where she lived alone. This stay was like end of the road for her. Gian Devi Mehta has served the society for forty long years as a school teacher by imparting good teaching and values to the upcoming generation and she herself is counting days by lying down in the hospital waiting for the end to come while judiciary takes its own course and goons continue to occupy her sole belonging, that is her house. In her case and in number of so many instances other senior citizens the justice delayed remains justice denied in their life time.
The relevant questions that arise are: How are stays granted to unrightful people without listening to the other party when it is well known that the legal process takes more than `one life time' to decide? Is it not a case of justice delayed is justice denied? What is the relief to senior and super senior citizens at courts? How is the legal system protecting the senior citizens viza-viz their life and property?
Over the last few decades the length of human life has increased most dramatically. That is to say, the better education, health facilities and increase in life expectancy, the percentage of elderly population (60+) has gone up from 5.3 to 5.7 percent and 6.0 to 8.0 percent during the periods of 1971 to 1981 and 1991 to 2011. This has mainly been possible because of the medical advances made in extending better care facilities to our senior citizens.The average longevity has gone up.Though the average age has gone up, the existing health facilities have not been able to keep pace with the provision of appropriate care to our older population. With the breakdown of the joint family norm and values in our younger generation, the old people on occasions also receive neglect, abuse from their own children. As they age, issues faced by them increase many fold. Those who provided care to their children all their life by remaining productive become vulnerable at an age. And here it becomes necessary for the state to ensure economic, social and legal protection so that athey do not become the most vulnerable section of the society.
(The writer is Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi)
