Urmila Devi Kasera v. State Of West Bengal And ORS.

9.

01-07-2025 (Ct. no.14) debajyoti

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction APPELLATE SIDE WPA 31005 of 2024 Urmila Devi Kasera Vs.

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Kanakendu Chatterjee ... For the Petitioner.

Mr. Jayanta Samanta, Mr. Rabindra Nath Pal, Ms. Barnali Gupta ... For the State.

1.

The petitioner is a senior citizen. She seeks protection under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. She lodged complaint before the Sub-Divisional Officer but there has been no response from the end of the authority. Hence, this writ petition.

2.

Learned advocate representing the State respondents submits, upon instruction that, the petitioner is required to forward her complaint to the Assistant Director, Directorate of Social Welfare, West Bengal at Shaishali Building, Salt Lake, Sector-I, Kolkata-700064, contact no.(033) 24793940. 3.

The Court is left wondering as to why the SubDivisional Officer, who received the complaint from the petitioner, did not communicate the aforesaid to the petitioner. The SDO could have forwarded the same to the competent authority.

4.

The complaint of the petitioner was received by the office of the District Magistrate, the SubDivisional Officer, Sadar, Alipore, the District Social Welfare Officer, South 24 Parganas, but none of the

aforesaid authorities intimated the petitioner that her request under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 is to be considered by the Assistant Director, Directorate of Social Welfare, West Bengal.

5.

The aforesaid authorities ought to have advised the petitioner who is a senior citizen and requires maintenance from her children with regard to the appropriate authorities where the request is to be lodged. The aforesaid authorities ought not to have sat tight on the complaint lodged by the petitioner compelling her to approach the Court for relief. The authorities ought to have acted in a more responsible and sensitive manner. It is expected that the authorities will appreciate the gravity of the matter and will take proper step in future.

6.

The instant writ petition is disposed of by granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the authority mentioned hereinabove, who, on receipt of the request from the petitioner, shall take necessary steps to redress her grievances in accordance with the Act as mentioned above.

7.

All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

8.

Urgent photostat certified copies of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties on compliance of necessary formalities.

(Amrita Sinha, J.)