A city magistrate court has observed that provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act cannot be misused for enforcing property rights or settling property disputes of a civil nature. The court said this in a domestic violence case wherein the mother who had sought relief against her elder son and his wife, had died, and the younger son sought to continue the temporary order of the court prohibiting the sibling from selling a Chembur flat.
The younger son had sought to continue the case in place of his mother and also the temporary relief regarding the flat. He had told the court that it was his mother's will that the case be taken to its conclusion and his brother and wife be punished for the injustice they meted out to her. The court said that due to the death of the original applicant (mother) the right to sue does not survive and the son cannot be allowed to continue the case as he is not a party in the case.
Metropolitan Magistrate JM Ambodkar said in the order, “It is observed that the rights available under the Domestic Violence Act are personal, statutory and inalienable rights of an aggrieved person which extinguish on her death and are not enforceable by her legal representatives.” Referring to a document produced by the elder son before it, the court said it is observed that the younger son has “grossly misused” its interim order and called his act “nothing but abuse of process of law to enforce property rights”. It said that a civil dispute over the ownership of the property cannot be converted into a petition under the Domestic Violence Act as that would amount to an abuse of its beneficial provision by stretching it over and beyond its purpose and ambit. The magistrate then proceeded to vacate the interim order.
The mother had filed proceedings in 2015. She said that her husband and she had jointly purchased the flat and that her spouse had made the property in their elder son's name by deceit to oust her and her younger son. She complained that her elder son and his wife had committed several instances of domestic violence on her due to which she had to approach the police against them. The court in its interim order of 2020 had restrained the older son from selling the property and also restrained his family from abusing her.
