A mother-in-law (MIL) cannot prosecute the father and brother of her daughter-in-law (DIL) under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, ruled the Bombay High Court.
Court's observations
“Admittedly, the 2005 Act (DV Act) is a social beneficial legislation enacted to protect women from domestic violence of all kinds. While the object and purpose of the DV Act is to protect a woman from domestic violence, it does not confer a right on a mother-in-law to prosecute the father and brother of her daughter-in-law under the DV Act,” said Justice Neela Gokhale on Friday.
Justice Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by the woman, her father and her brother seeking quashing of the complaint filed by the woman’s mother-in-law under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act (DV Act).
The petition under scrutiny
According to the petition, the woman married in 2016 and was subjected to cruelty. Hence, she filed an FIR against her husband and his family under Section 498A (cruelty) of the IPC. She even approached the magistrate and filed a complaint under the DV Act against her husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and her brother.
Subsequently, the woman’s mother-in-law filed a complaint under the DV Act against her, her father and her brother. Based on this, the magistrate court issued summons to the trio. They then approached the HC seeking quashing of the DV complaint and the summons.
Their advocates Sushil Upadhyay and Ashok Soraogi submitted that the mother-in-law’s DV complaint was a counter-blast to the proceedings initiated by the woman against her husband and his family members.
HC quashes DV case and summons
The HC noted that the woman’s father and brother do not fall within the scope and ambit of the DV Act. Mere allegations of threats and violence against the woman’s father and brother are not sufficient to make them liable for prosecution under the DV Act.
The HC, hence, quashed the DV case and the summons. However, the judge noted that the DV complaint was maintainable against the woman and hence refused to quash the same.
