Refusal will amount to ‘abandonment’: HC directs son to ensure shifting of aged mother from Bandra Hospital

In its operative order, with detailed reasons to follow in due course, the bench directed the son to ensure his mother’s shifting and undertake payment for medicines, consumables, and treatment as per the civic hospital policy for charity patients or Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates, whichever is lower.

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed a man, who had refused to discharge and allegedly abandoned his aged mother at a charitable-trust-run hospital in Bandra, to ensure she is shifted to a civic-run hospital by Tuesday morning. It also restrained him from dealing with his mother’s properties, including a residential flat in Bandra (West), without the court’s prior permission.

The court directed the state government to ensure the woman’s health is assessed by a government medical team before the transfer and that government doctors accompany her in the ambulance during transit. It also asked the state to provide her necessary care under medical advice and supervision.

A bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Ranjitsinha R Bhonsale passed the order on a plea by Bandra’s Holy Family Hospital, which sought directions to the police to take charge of the senior citizen and transfer her from the hospital to her home. The hospital also requested that Bandra Police and the Senior Citizen Tribunal initiate proceedings against the respondent son.

The hospital, represented by advocate Pradip Chavan, told the court that the son had admitted his mother earlier this year in the emergency department and misbehaved with the staff. Though her health had improved and she was fit for discharge last month, he allegedly refused to settle pending bills or take her home, prompting a police complaint and a plea before the tribunal. The hospital said he later claimed illness to delay discharge, accused it of negligence, and resisted repeated efforts to release her. The hospital claimed despite police intervention, the man refused discharge, seeking more time for a second opinion, prompting it to approach the high court.

In its operative order, with detailed reasons to follow in due course, the bench directed the son to ensure his mother’s shifting and undertake payment for medicines, consumables, and treatment as per the civic hospital policy for charity patients or Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates, whichever is lower.

The bench said the son’s failure to comply would amount to “exposure and abandonment of the patient,” and then the state government shall shift her to a civic-run hospital. It also directed the police to act on the hospital’s complaint and asked the Senior Citizen Tribunal to take steps under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, to protect the woman’s property and well-being. The court also directed that Rs 1 lakh deposited by the son in high court be transferred to the Maintenance Tribunal for necessary directions. It directed the son to furnish details of all movable and immovable assets belonging to his mother and reiterated that the hospital may pursue appropriate legal remedies to recover its dues from the son as per law.