Muslim women can seek relief under Domestic Violence Act, rules Court

The contention that Muslim women are governed by personal laws has been trashed by the HC

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court held that a Muslim woman can seek reliefs like monthly maintenance, custody of children and also accommodation under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (DV) of 2005. The HC ruled that the fact that Muslim marriages are governed by their personal laws, but the same do not bar a woman to seek reliefs under the DV Act.

The ruling was delivered by a single-judge bench of Justice Bharati Dangre, earlier this month, while hearing a matrimonial dispute of Muslim couple. The bench was seized with the plea filed by Ali Abbas Daruwala challenging the orders of the Family Court, Bandra directing him to pay Rs 20,000 each to his two minor children and Rs 25, 000 to his wife, every month.

According the husband he divorced his wife way back in March 2017 by pronouncing talaq. However, the wife later on refused to accept the said talaq and approached the Family Court seeking divorce under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939. Further, she also moved a plea seeking monthly maintenance and accommodation under the DV Act. The said plea was opposed by the husband, who argued that they are governed by the Muslim personal laws and the provisions of DV Act cannot be invoked in their matter.

Trashing the contentions of Daruwala, Justice Dangre said, “A bare perusal of the provisions of the DV Act would reveal that it is an enactment to provide more effective protection for rights of women guaranteed under the Indian Constitution who are the victims of the violence. The enactment no way intends to restrict its application to any particular category of women but it intends to protect the women aggrieved, who are victims of Domestic Violence.”

“Even the definition and connotation of the term Domestic Violence do not indicate any intention to exclude Muslim women. The DV Act also states that its provisions shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time any force. Thus, the scheme of the enactment do not restrict the applicability of the provisions of the Act to a particular category of women, nevertheless to a woman belonging to a particular religion. No doubt the Muslim women are also governed by several other enactments, however, the rights conferred under these enactments can in no way curtail the operation or protection as granted under the DV Act,” Justice Dangre ruled.

The bench further said that the purpose of any provision of law which is beneficial to a woman is to provide some ‘solace’ to a woman during the subsistence of her marriage or even after she is divorced and since the DV Act is an enactment to provide effective protection of rights of woman, who are victims of violence, the ‘Muslim women’ cannot be denied the umbrella of reliefs under the DV Act.