Sat Apr 26 16:12:38 UTC 2025: ## Senior Citizens’ Group Challenges Lawyer Appointments in Maintenance Tribunals
**Thiruvananthapuram, April 26, 2025** – The Senior Citizens’ Friends Welfare Association has criticized the appointment of lawyers as conciliation officers in maintenance tribunals, alleging a violation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. Section 17 of the Act explicitly prohibits legal representation for either party before the tribunal.
The association claims that Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs), who preside over these tribunals, are misinterpreting the law by appointing lawyers, despite the requirement being only that conciliation officers possess legal knowledge, not necessarily be practicing lawyers. Furthermore, the group alleges that children and relatives are also employing lawyers to contest elderly parents’ maintenance claims, hindering the process and preventing senior citizens from receiving the financial support they are entitled to.
The association is demanding that RDOs instead appoint individuals with at least five years of experience in matters relating to the elderly as conciliation officers. They believe this change will ensure fairer and more efficient resolution of maintenance disputes.
First Piper 