Domestic Violence Case Myth Buster - PWDVA Case - Shonee Kapoor

What is Domestic Violence as per the Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA, 2005)?

As per law, any act, be it omission or commission or conduct against the woman by any other male or female relative living in a domestic relation, which harms, injures, harasses, threatens or endangers the aggrieved person, is Domestic Violence as per the PWDVA 2005. Domestic Violence can be Physical or Verbal and Emotional or Sexual or Economic. Being a gender-biased law, women use it against their Husband/ Male partner and his relatives (both male and female relatives).

Which authorities can accept complaints under this Act?

A victim or anyone with her safety in mind can approach a ‘Protection Officer’, ‘Service Provider’, ‘Local SHO’ or directly to a ‘Magistrate’ under this Act. In all cases, when a complaint is made to any authority except the Magistrate, they have to help the victim complain in the proper format to the Magistrate. Generally, a complaint is made to a Magistrate at the local Mahila Court under section 12.

Who is an ‘aggrieved person’ under this Act?

Any woman in a ‘domestic relationship’ who is alleged to have been subjected to Domestic Violence by her partner/ relative/ husband can be an aggrieved person under this Act.

What is a “Domestic Relationship”?

The law explains “domestic relationship” as the relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point in time, lived together in a shared household when they are related by consanguinity, Marriage, or through a relationship like Marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family. Explanation: Relations through Consanguinity (Blood Relations) can be: – Mother-Son – Father-Daughter – Sister-Brother – Widows/ Spinsters living with extended family. Relations through Marriage can be: – Wife-Husband – Daughter-in-law with father-in-law/ mother-in-law – Sister-in-law with any other member of the family – Widows living in matrimonial home. Relations through adoption can be the same as blood relations except for the mother-son relation. Relations like Marriage: – Females in Live-in Relationships (with certain limitations) – Females in Invalid-Irregular Marriages To understand this concept of whether a particular Live-in Relationship or irregular Marriage falls in the definition of Domestic Violence Act, please follow this link:

What is “Shared Household”?

A shared household is where the aggrieved person lives or lived with the alleged offender; it can be a house owned/ taken on rent/ where the offender lives, including a joint family house – A rider is added by courts that in case the feud is between wife and husband only the house where the husband has a “stake” in above conditions will be treated as a shared household. Many controversies mar this concept of a Shared Household. To clarify this concept, I suggest you follow this link for differentials in Matrimonial Homes, Shared Households and Domestic Relationships.

What is the “Jurisdiction” of the case?

The jurisdiction of this case is considerably enlarged to include the following: – Where the aggrieved woman is residing temporarily or permanently. But this does not mean transient residence. – Where the aggrieved woman is employed. – Where the domestic violence was committed. – Where the husband/ male partner/ offender/ respondent is residing.

Who is a “Respondent”?

A respondent is any person in a domestic relationship against whom the “aggrieved person” has sought a relief.

Who is a Protection Officer, and what are their duties?

A protection officer is appointed by the State Government, whose primary duty is to help the Magistrate with the various duties under the Protection of Domestic Violence Act. It also helps victims lodge complaints in the proper format, known as a “Domestic Incident Report” or “DIR”. Besides the same, the Protection Officer maintains a list of Shelter Homes, liaisons with the local Police Station for compliance with any orders/ protection of any or all victims, and gets proper medical attention to the victims. The protection officer is only answerable to the Magistrate or the state government.

Can any action be taken against the Protection Officer for filing a “false” Domestic Incident Report?

The word false can be defined in two ways. One from the complainant’s viewpoint and the other from the respondent’s viewpoint. In the first instance, if the complainant has stated some facts and the same are missing from the DIR, the complainant can approach the Magistrate with the complaint. However, if the respondent feels that the protection officer has not investigated the facts, the protection officer was not obliged to. The protection officer must fill out the form per the complainant’s statement.

What is a “Domestic Incidence Report”?

Whenever a complainant visits a Protection Officer or a Service provider, the Protection Officer prepares a report in a predefined format. This format is defined in the Act itself. This report is called Domestic Incident Report or DIR.

What is the definition of Physical Abuse?

Any act or conduct that harms or creates danger for the complainant’s life, limb, or health. What is the definition of Emotional Abuse? Insults, torture, taunting, threats, etc, which create/play havoc with the emotional state of the complainant, would be emotional abuse.

What is Economic Abuse?

Economic abuse can be taking control of money earned by a woman, not giving enough money to run household expenses or even preventing the woman from earning a living. It also includes prohibition or restriction to use/access resources and facilities which the aggrieved person is entitled to use/access by being in a domestic relationship with the respondent.

What is Sexual Abuse?

Forced Sex, humiliating Sex, showing pornography against the wishes of the victim, and getting into unnatural Sex is Sexual Abuse. Even a denial of Sex to get a victim to do something is also under the definition of Sexual Abuse.

What reliefs can be sought by the victims under PWDVA, 2005.

he following reliefs, which are monetary, protection, residential, and child custody, can be sought by the victim or granted to the victim and against the respondents. – Protection Order: The Magistrate can order the respondents not to repeat any act of violence. Remove himself from the shared household. Do not visit the residence/workplace of the victim. Not to communicate with the victim by any means. – Monetary Orders: The Magistrate can order the respondents to provide maintenance/ medical expenses/ educational expenses/ rentals/ compensation for lost property, damages, mental and physical harassment, loss of earnings, any stridhan or money that the respondents have usurped from the victim. – Residence Orders: The Magistrate can order the respondents to provide the victim either their self-acquired property or rental for equivalent property for residence only. Such orders do not create any other rights in the victim’s favour. – Child Custody Order: The Magistrate can grant temporary custody of the child/ ren to the victim under this Act.

What is the punishment for not following court orders under this Act?

Most of the orders related to money or money equivalents can be executed by the victim as envisaged in the Criminal Procedure Code. The respondents against whom the orders have been passed, if they fail to comply with such monetary orders, can have part of their wages or salary credited to the aggrieved person and have their properties attached, failing which they can also be imprisoned. However, in case of breach of any protection order, the respondent can face a criminal trial under this Act, the punishment under which is up to 2 years of imprisonment and a fine.

Can the wife file “498a and DV” or “DV or CrPC 125” on the same set of allegations?

Yes, she can file 498a (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty: Proposed Section 84 of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023) and DV. There is no way to stop the same. The reliefs in all these cases are different; thus, each case has to be fought on its merits.

If maintenance is ordered in any other section and DV, which order shall I follow?

Despite numerous judgments that multiple maintenance is not allowed or maintenance awarded in one section shall be offset by maintenance awarded in any other section. Unless mentioned in any of the orders, each case’s maintenance must be followed. While fighting the case or at the stage of arguments, one should point out that an order for maintenance has been ordered in any other section to get the same offset.

Is there any limitation in filing a Domestic Violence Case?

Though there are no limitations defined in the Domestic Violence Act. There are few judgments where few courts have accepted limitations based on Inderjit Singh Grewal’s judgment. However, other courts have ignored the same. Also, various factors like when the last contact was held. Whether any allegations of 406 are true, there have been many grounds for limitation. One important aspect that could be of use is Article 137 of the schedule of the Limitation Act, which says when no limitation period is prescribed in the Act, it should be three years from the date when the right accrues. However, to my knowledge, this has not been tested anywhere.

Can the Mother-in-law file a Domestic Violence case against Daughter-in-law?

Yes, now that the Supreme Court has deleted the words “Adult Male” from S. 2(q) of the Act. A mother-in-law can file a case against her Daughter-in-law under the Act.

If you want to know the latest judgment favouring men in Domestic Violence Cases, I would suggest you go through this page