Complaints against women permitted under DV Act: HC

THE HC BENCH WAS HEARING A PLEA FILED BY NINE MEMBERS OF A FAMILY SEEKING THE QUASHING OF A DV COMPLAINT LODGED AGAINST THEM

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) has held that the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005 does not prohibit the filing of complaints against females, and complaints can be also filed against female members of the aggrieved woman’s family.

The bench of justice Mangesh Patil was responding to a petition filed by nine members of a family from Aurangabad district seeking the quashing of a DV complaint lodged against them, in connection with a property dispute, by a widowed family member.

One of their contentions was that seven of the nine members were females and therefore, the complaint was not tenable.

Rejecting the plea, Justice Patil said, “The submission of the learned advocate that no female member of a family could be a respondent in a proceeding under DV Act is far too general statement which does not stand the scrutiny of law.”

The perusal of definitions of certain terms used in the DV Act – such as “aggrieved person”, “domestic relationship” and “respondent” – clearly indicate that the legislature did not intend to exclude female members of the family from purview of the enactment, the judge observed.

The DV Act empowers an aggrieved woman to file a complaint if she is subjected to any kind of abuse – physical, mental or economical.

If a female member of the family, including the mother-in-law or married or unmarried sister of the husband, indulges in such abuse, one cannot comprehend as to why they should be excluded from being arraigned as respondents, the judge added.

Justice Patil said that depriving a widow from her legitimate share in the family household or joint family property, or pressurizing her to relinquish her share, serves as an example of such an instance.