Jammu & Kashmir: Woman Fined 10 Lakh Rupees For Misusing Domestic Violence Act

Woman fined for misusing Domestic Violence Act: Domestic Violence Act is meant to protect women from violence and not for them to harass their spouse or marital discord, stated a Jammu and Kashmir court. The statement was made by the court while imposing a fine of rupees ten lakh on a woman for misusing the Domestic Violence Act.

Domestic violence refers to any kind of violence which is faced by a woman at the hands of her relatives- the people who live in the same household. The 2019 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data revealed out of 4.05 lakh crimes against women in 2019, 1.26 lakh were that of domestic violence. Additionally, not all women register cases or speak up because of societal constraints.

But in some cases, the legitimacy of the case has to be checked in order to protect the object and purpose of the Domestic Violence Act. The Act, should not be misused by women for their own benefit and harassing the other spouse.

The Facts Of The Case : 

The woman in question had alleged facing domestic violence at the hands of her husband, in 2019, following with the court passed an order restricting him from entering his own house.

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The woman went ahead and evicted her husband with the help of her relative and used the police agency to further harass the respondent. On March 23, 2019, the court ordered the wife to provide accommodation of two rooms to her husband in the said residential house. But she went ahead and filed another case under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deals with saving of inherent powers of the high court. The court, on April 29, 2019, directed for installation of CCTV cameras in the residential house and further directed the parties to accommodate each other.

Wife's Counsel Arguments:

The woman's lawyer argued that it is her choice to withdraw the petition and the other side cannot raise objection against such choice or decision taken by the wife.

They even contended that the court directed them to accommodate each other in the same residential house in a cordial. manner, which cannot preclude her to withdraw the said petition. When the appeal was filed against such an order the High Court and Supreme Court had rejected it.

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Husband's Counsel Arguments : 

His main argument was that the intention of the wife was to frustrate the order that was not in her favour.  The wife wanted to avoid the implementation of the April 2019 order.

The Court's Decision : 

The court imposed a ten lakh rupees cost on the woman for throwing her husband out of his own house by misusing the Domestic Violence Act.  The court observed that the wife had deprived her husband of shelter, accommodation in the house built by his hard-earned money during the course of this dispute.

"The petitioner/AP shall pay cost of ₹10 lakh to the respondent who has been deprived of shelter and accommodation from his own house under the garb of order obtained in the instant petition. Besides, both the parties are directed to restore the same position with respect to possession of the shared-household as existed on the date of the institution of the present petition," the order said.

Therefore, it is important to sift and weigh cases to preserve the efficacy of Domestic Violence Act for legitimate and genuine cases," the judge underscored.