A retired Indian couple are suing their son and daughter-in-law – demanding that they produce a grandchild within a year or pay them 50 million rupees (£527,480).

Sanjeev Ranjan Prasad, a 61-year-old retired government officer, said it was an emotional and sensitive issue for him and his wife, Sadhana Prasad, and they cannot wait any longer.

His son, a pilot, married six years ago.

“We want a grandson or a granddaughter within a year or compensation because I have spent my life’s earnings on my son’s education,” Mr Prasad told reporters on Thursday.

Mr Prasad said he spent 3.5 million rupees (£36,924) on his son’s pilot training in the United States.

“The main issue is that at this age we need a grandchild but these people (my son and daughter-in-law) have an attitude that they don’t think about us,” he said.

“We got him married in the hope we would have the pleasure of becoming grandparents.

“It has been six years since their marriage. It feels as if despite having everything we have nothing.”

The court accepted their petition and scheduled it for a hearing on Monday in Haridwar, a city in the northern Uttarakhand state, media reports said.

The son and daughter-in-law could not be reached for comment.

Mr Prasad said he and his wife love children.

“We are not getting love and affection from where we want it the most,” he said.

“I feel very unlucky.”