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Can a man accuse his wife of domestic violence? Delhi High Court will discuss the law that only applies to women.
A woman has petitioned the court to order that actions taken against her by her husband under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, be quashed.
The case, which arose from a contentious marriage in which both sides claimed abuse, has raised the difficult subject of whether a man can file a lawsuit against a woman under India's domestic violence law. The lower court ruled that it could, but the wife's solicitor, Ashima Mandla, petitioned the high court to rule that it could not. A complaint has been made in opposition to the order issued by marital magistrate Karkardooma starting the legal process and requesting a Domestic Incident Report.
The argument made in the plea was that, according to the legislation, the Domestic Violence Act's section 2(a) definition of an aggrieved party as a woman or girl, and there is no provision for a man to start such legal action. The court has begun proceedings after a man attended a court in Delhi for the first time to file a domestic abuse case against his wife, according to the submission. The husband reportedly broke the news of the summons to the media. The High Court of Karnataka's decision holding that males can file domestic abuse lawsuits was cited in support of the argument that the husband had relied on it; however, the MM court overlooked the fact that the HC had unconditionally retracted its judgement.
According to the plea, "The legislature's intent is clear that recourse to protection under the DV Act is qua an "aggrieved person" defined u/s 2(a), which is intentionally and solemnly limited to only "woman" under the Act. This is under the scheme and object of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005." In light of the foregoing, the applicant has asked for a ruling quashing the actions taken by her husband against her under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005.
