Raj Kumari and Another vs Shanti Devi and Another

Nirmaljit Kaur, J.—This is a revision petition against the judgment and order dated 16.04.2010 passed by the District Judge, Family Court, Gurgaon, vide which, the application filed by the Petitioners to drop proceedings against them u/s 12 of the Protection of Women under Domestic Violence Act, 2005 has been dismissed.

Brief facts of the case are that one Shanti Devi (Respondent No. 1) wife of the proforma Respondent Banarsi Lal filed a complaint u/s 12 of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 against Banarsi Lal and the Petitioners, alleging violence to her at the hands of proforma Respondent Banarsi Lal. She also implicated the Petitioners for commission of said offence.

The Petitioners filed an application for dropping of proceedings against them u/s 12 of the Protection of Women under Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The said impugned order has been challenged firstly on the ground that the complaint has been filed by the complainant Shanti Devi through her Special Power of Attorney namely Satpal Aggarwal. She was never produced before the Court. It is the specific case of the Petitioners that Shanti Devi-complainant has neither filed the complaint nor she is interested in pursuing the complaint but the present litigation has been filed by her son only with the intention to harass and humiliate the Petitioners. Secondly, as per the provisions of Domestic Violence Act, the same can be invoked against a person, who is responsible for the custody, safety, protection and maintenance of the woman concerned but from the allegations in the present complaint, it is very much clear that neither all the Petitioners are responsible for the custody of Respondent No. 1 nor they are responsible for her protection and maintenance as no relation of whatsoever nature exist between the Petitioners and Respondent No. 1.

Heard.

There is no merit in the first argument raised by learned Counsel for the Petitioners, in as much as, Section 12(1) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 reads as under:

Application to Magistrate.- (1) An aggrieved person or a Protection Officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person may present an application to the Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs under this Act:

Provided that before passing any order on such application, the Magistrate shall take into consideration any domestic incident report received by him from the Protection Officer or the service provider.

A perusal of the above shows that the petition can be filed both by the aggrieved person or another person on her behalf. The complaint has been filed by Shanti Devi through her real son Satpal Aggarwal, who is also her Special Power of Attorney. Thus, there is no merit in the said argument and is, accordingly, rejected.

Taking up the second argument of learned Counsel for the Petitioners that the present Petitioners are not responsible for her maintenance and therefore, the complaint cannot be filed against the same, also has no merit, in as much as, the complaint has been filed u/s 12 of the Protection of Women under Domestic Violence Act, 2005 with the specific allegation that Respondents No. 2 and 3 were residing with Petitioner No. 1, who is her husband. Whether they are residing with Petitioner No. 1 or not, would be a matter of evidence. Moreover, a perusal of the summoning order shows that the same has been passed on the basis of a report submitted by the Protection Officer, in which, the Protection Officer has reported that the Petitioner need protection under the different provisions of the Act. Thus, it is matter of evidence as to whether the present Petitioner indulged in any Domestic Violence or not.

Accordingly, there is no merit in the revision petition and the same is dismissed as such. However, nothing herein shall have bearing on the merits of the case.