Pune: Court Sentences Man to Three Months in Jail for Abandoning Elderly Parents

Junnar, 25th November 2025: A judicial magistrate court in Junnar has sentenced the younger son of an 80-year-old retired Mumbai Port Trust employee to three months of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for neglecting and abandoning his aged parents. The order was issued by Judicial Magistrate First Class Himmatrao Bajad.

The conviction was made under Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, following a complaint filed by the elderly man. The court delivered its ruling on November 19.
The elder son, however, was acquitted. The court noted that his family — including his son and daughter-in-law — stayed with the couple and were supporting them. Assistant public prosecutor M. S. Ghodke said the younger son had been arrested on November 10 and was currently lodged in Yerawada Central Prison.

The case dates back to May 13, 2023, when the senior citizen approached Narayangaon police alleging that both sons had taken control of his agricultural land, forced him and his wife out of their home, and denied them basic necessities.

Ghodke said the testimony of the complainant and his 70-year-old wife showed that 51 gunthas of land had been transferred to the younger son on the assurance that he would care for them. Instead, the court found that he not only abandoned the couple but also took their land and money.

In its observations, the court remarked that the behaviour of the younger son was “highly objectionable,” adding that the couple had endured significant emotional trauma. The court further stated that family responsibility cannot be treated as “a shield to commit wrongdoing and escape consequences.”