1.
Domestic violence Act, 2006: An Act to build a frightened democracy, to
endanger the peace and harmony of the traditional Indian family.
2.
The Act
sought to handover a potent weapon in the hands of an abusive litigant to
intimidate and harass their family members, allow her to lie with fluency and
fervor, and allows its credible gross misuse.
3.
Although,
malice cannot be attributed towards the Legislature, nevertheless, it is an
Act, the provisions of which causally but seriously abridge the most cherished
personal liberty of men and women and potentially destroy the institution of
family in our Country, apart from subjecting people of this country to one of
the most irrational and unjust law.
4.
The whole
procedure contemplated under the Act is designed in such a manner that would
cause “undue” fatigue and oppression to the Respondent. There is an
illogical consistency in the entire scheme of the impugned Act, and the
innocent Respondent may never recover from confusion.
5.
The tyranny starts from the open ended and loosely
worded definition of the expression “domestic violence”, which is further
amplified in the “Domestic Incident Report prepared under Form I.
6.
The tyranny is further supplemented in Form II of Rule
6 of the Rules framed under the impugned Act, which do not warrant the
aggrieved person to state facts in her Application made u/s 12 of the impugned
Act. The aggrieved person only has to “tick mark” the reliefs she is looking
from the court. Even the Domestic Incident Report prepared by the Protection officer
in the prescribed Form I does not contemplate recording of any facts in issue
or relevant facts, constituting “domestic violence”.
7.
The tyranny continues where the Magistrate, u/s 12(4)
is obliged to give hearing to the Applicant within three days of the filing of
said Application u/s 12. At the execution of an Affidavit provided under Form
III prescribed under the said Rules would empower the Magistrate to give
ex-parte interim reliefs to the Applicant, as enumerated u/ss 18, 19, 20, 21,
22, notwithstanding whether or not Respondent is served with the “Notice” of
the institution of the case against them.
8.
The nature of wide conferment of jurisdiction to the
Magistrates court, when are read along with other provisions of the impugned
Act, may left the Respondents fatigued, irritating and helpless lot. Section
27, 13, 23, 18, 31, 32; R.12.
9.
The tyranny is further intensified by the mandate of
Rule 12(4) of the said Rules, which is disproportionately onerous and
unwarranted, and in fact would be impossible to adhere with and the breach of
it would be imminent, although not intentional, and would thus render the Respondent
to criminal prosecution.
10. The tyranny
is further deepened by the mandate of sections 31 and 32 of the impugned Act.
Whereas the expression “domestic violence” itself is inherently and
characteristically vague and ambiguous, any Order passed, thereby prohibiting
the Respondent from committing any further “domestic violence”, would also be
vague and ambiguous. The Respondent may be left to ponder “what to comply
with”; The Respondent may be left wondering how he should organize his conduct
so as to comply with the Order of the Court.
11. Most
shockingly, whereas the alleged breach of the protection Order is made a
criminal offence, the impugned section obviates the necessity of the concerned
Magistrate to satisfy himself as to the truthfulness of the allegation of
breach of Order, and the law contemplate that the solemn words are flowing from
the Applicant / Protection officer. It is submitted that even in the Contempt
of Courts Act, the High Court, before subjecting the alleged contemnor to the
rigours of contempt proceedings, satisfy itself to the veracity of the
allegation made in the contempt petition.
12. The irony of the Respondent is not over. The
offence is made Non-bailable and cognizable, wherein the Police officer may
arrest the Respondent immediately on the allegation of breach of the Order.
13. The proposition employed in sections 31 and
32 is mind blowing absurd and is unheard of in the body of our jurisprudence.
The said provision is extremely callous and shamelessly mutilates the mandate
of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
14. The
other tyranny includes where under the mandate of section 19, the Respondent
(except woman) may be told to leave his home and he may sleep on the footpath,
the law is least concerned.
15.
Sometimes
an argument is advanced suggesting that where the language of the section
clearly expresses the intention of the Legislature, it must be given effect to,
regardless of the consequences, and the court cannot consider the fact that
such effect causes hardship or inconvenience. Inconvenience is never considered
as a decisive factor in interpreting a statute. However, in the instant case,
the fall out of hardship is deprivation of personal liberty of a man, which is
constitutionally protected.
16.
It is
said that every provision in legislation should be read harmoniously with other
provisions of the Act and the entire provisions should be understood as a
“Scheme” for the attainment of objectives set out in the preamble of the Act.
Therefore, it becomes necessary to look at the entire Scheme of the Act, to
appreciate the gross infirmities in the whole scheme of the Act.
17. Legislative
enactments bearing good intentions are not sufficed; they have to conform to
the dictates of our Constitution.
Legal issues !!
If you are facing any of these issues like (a) Recovery of Moneys (b) Immovable property disputes (c) grievances against Municipalities & Govts., including challenge to legitimacy of laws etc. (d) grievances against illegalities and highhandedness of Police like illegal arrests, refusal to register FIR, deliberately flawed investigations, etc (e) False FIRs (f) False Claims (g) False evidences (h) Grievances against Judges (i) Illegal or perverse Orders of the Courts / Tribunals, among others.
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