Considering amendment to Senior Citizen Act, 2007 to allow legal representation, Centre tells Delhi HC

The Central Government today informed the Delhi High Court that it has constituted a Review Committee to consider revision of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (Senior Citizen Act) insofar as it prohibited representation by a legal practitioner in proceedings under the Act..The submission was made by the Central Government Standing Counsel before a Division Bench of Chief Justices DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar..The Court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 17 of the Senior Citizens Act which prohibits representation by a legal practitioner in proceedings under the Act..At the outset, the Central Government acknowledged that the Punjab & Haryana High Court had passed a judgement holding that there could be no bar on legal representation under the Senior Citizen Act..Pursuant to the judgement, it had therefore established a Review Committee to consider bringing the appropriate amendments to the Act, Central Government said..The Court was informed that for this purpose, several consultations with all the stakeholders at the national level were also being conducted..After recording the statement of the Central Government, the Court adjourned hearing in the case till January 31. In one of the petitions before the Court, Advocate Pawan Reley had contended that Section 17 was unconstitutional in light of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India read with Section 30 of the Advocates Act, 1961..It was submitted that the “unreasonable restriction” on legal representation is arbitrary and goes beyond the requirement of the interest of the general public. It was also stated that there is no direct and proximate nexus between Section 17 and the object sought to be achieved by the Act..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.