Impugned
Provision / other anomaly
|
Breach of
Section / Article
|
Rule 3 of the Rules, 2006, framed under the impugned
Act
|
Section 8 and 9 of the impugned Act; and
Rules 8 and 10 of the Rules 2006 framed thereunder, read with Article 14 of
the Constitution of India
|
RULE 3: Qualifications and experience of Protection Officers
(1) The Protection Officers appointed by the State
Government may be of the Government or members of nongovernmental organizations
:
Provided that preference shall be given to women.
(2) Every person appointed as Protection Officer under the
Act shall have at least three years experience in social sector.
(3) The tenure of a Protection Officer shall be a minimum
period of three years.
(4) The State Government shall
provide necessary office assistance to the Protection Officer for the efficient
discharge of his or her functions under the Act and these rules.
SECTION 8: Appointment of Protection Officers
(1) The State Government shall, by notification,
appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider
necessary and shall also notify the area or areas within which a Protection
Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred on him by or
under this Act.
(2) The Protection Officers shall as far as
possible be women and shall possess such qualifications and experience as may
be prescribed.
(3) The terms and conditions of service of the
Protection Officer and the other officers subordinate to him shall be such as
may be prescribed.
R.3(2) – Three years’ experience in
“social sector”; but what is Social sector is no where judicially defined; and
any person may claim that he has three years’ experience in Social sector.
SECTION 9: Duties and functions of Protection Officers
(1) It shall be the duty of the Protection Officer
(a) to assist the Magistrate in the discharge of his
functions under this Act;
(b) to make a domestic incident report to the Magistrate,
in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, upon receipt of a
complaint of domestic violence and forward copies thereof to the police officer
in charge of the police station within the local limits of whose jurisdiction
domestic violence is alleged to have been committed and to the service
providers in that area;
(c) to make an application in such form and in such manner
as may be prescribed to the Magistrate, if the aggrieved person so desires,
claiming relief for issuance of a protection order;
(d) to ensure that the aggrieved person is provided legal
aid under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) and make
available free of cost the prescribed form in which a complaint is to be made;
(e) to maintain a list of all service providers providing
legal aid or counselling, shelter homes and medical facilities in a local area
within the jurisdiction of the Magistrate;
(f) to make available a safe shelter home, if the aggrieved
person so requires and forward a copy of his report of having lodged the
aggrieved person in a shelter home to the police station and the Magistrate
having jurisdiction in the area where the shelter home is situated;
(g) to get the aggrieved person medically examined, if she
has sustained bodily injuries and forward a copy of the medical report to the
police station and the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the
domestic violence is alleged to have been taken place;
(h) to ensure that the order for monetary relief under
Section 20 is complied with and executed, in accordance with the procedure
prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);
(i) to perform such other duties as may be prescribed.
(2) The Protection Officer shall be
under the control and supervision of the Magistrate, and shall perform the
duties imposed on him by the Magistrate and the Government by, or under, this
Act.
RULE 8: Duties and functions of Protection Officers
(1) It shall be the duty of the Protection Officer
(i) to assist the aggrieved person in making a complaint
under the Act, if the aggrieved person so desires;
(ii) to provide her information on the rights of aggrieved
persons under the Act as given in Form IV which shall be in English or in a
vernacular local language;
(iii) to assist the person in making any application under
Section 12, or sub-section (2) of Section 23 or any other provision of the Act
or the rules made thereunder;
(iv) to prepare a "Safety Plan" including
measures to prevent further domestic violence to the aggrieved person, in
consultation with the aggrieved person in Form V, after making an assessment of
the dangers involved in the situation and on an application being moved under
Section 12;
(v) to provide legal aid to the aggrieved person, through
the State Legal Aid Services Authority;
(vi) to assist the aggrieved person and any child in
obtaining medical aid at a medical facility including providing transportation
to get the medical facility;
(vii) to assist in obtaining transportation for the
aggrieved person and any child to the shelter;
(viii) to inform the service providers registered under the
Act that their services may be required in the proceedings under the Act and to
invite applications from service providers seeking particulars of their members
to be appointed as Counsellors in proceedings under the Act under sub-section
(1) of Section 14 or Welfare Experts under Section 15;
(ix) to scrutinise the applications for appointment as
Counsellors and forward a list of available Counsellors to the Magistrate;
(x) to revise once in three years the list of available
Counsellors by inviting fresh applications and forward a revised list of
Counsellors on the basis thereof to the concerned Magistrate;
(xi) to maintain a record and copies of the report and
documents forwarded under Sections 9, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23 or any other
provisions of the Act or these rules;
(xii) to provide all possible assistance to the aggrieved
person and the children to ensure that the aggrieved person is not victimized
or pressurized as a consequence of reporting the incidence of domestic
violence;
(xiii) to liaise between the aggrieved person or persons,
police and service provider in the manner provided under the Act and these
rules;
(xiv) to maintain proper records of the service providers,
medical facility and shelter homes in the area of his jurisdiction.
(2) In addition to the duties and functions assigned to a
Protection Officer under clauses (a) to (h) of sub-section (1) of Section 9, it
shall be the duty of every Protection Officer
(a) to protect the aggrieved persons from domestic
violence, in accordance with the provisions of the Act and these rules;
(b) to take all reasonable measures to prevent recurrence
of domestic violence against the aggrieved person, in accordance with the
provisions of the Act and these rules.
RULE 10 : Certain other duties of the Protection Officers
(1) The Protection Officer, if directed to do so in
writing, by the Magistrate shall
(a) conduct a home visit of the shared household premises
and make preliminary enquiry if the court requires clarification, in regard to
granting ex parte interim relief to the aggrieved person under the Act and pass
an order for such home visit;
(b) after making appropriate inquiry, file a report on the
emoluments, assets, bank accounts or any other documents as may be directed by
the court;
(c) restore the possession of the personal effects
including gifts and jewellery of the aggrieved person and the shared household
to the aggrieved person;
(d) assist the aggrieved person to regain custody of
children and secure rights to visit them under his supervision as may be
directed by the court;
(e) assist the court in enforcement of orders in the
proceedings under the Act in the manner directed by the Magistrate, including
orders under Section 12, Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, Section 21 or
Section 23 in such manner as may be directed by the court;
(f) take the assistance of the police, if required, in
confiscating any weapon involved in the alleged domestic violence.
(2) The Protection Officer shall also perform such other
duties as may be assigned to him by the State Government or the Magistrate in
giving effect to the provisions of the Act and these rules from time to time.
(3) The Magistrate may, in addition to the orders for
effective relief in any case, also issue directions relating general practice
for better handling of the cases, to the Protection Officers within his
jurisdiction and the Protection Officers shall be bound to carry out the same.
The Argument
1. No
Academic qualification or any other qualification / experience is provided
under the impugned Act, to carry out tremendously onerous, voluminous and
extremely responsible job as a Protection officer, as provided under sections 8
and 9 of the impugned Act and under Rules 8 and 10 of the Rules framed
thereunder.
2. This
is irrational, and essentially frustrates the intention of the Legislature.
This also indicates the seriousness of the State in achieving the objects of
the Act.
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.
or
If you are looking for draft of any legal proceeding; or if you want to know the nature and attribute of any legal proceeding; or if you want to know the procedure followed in any legal proceeding; or if you want to know the grounds on which any order of the court / tribunal is challenged; or if you are facing any frivolous litigation.
Law
Referencer: https://www.litigationplatform.com/
Thank you.
Comments