Civil protection for women facing violence at home — protection, residence, monetary and custody orders, and the right to remain in a shared household. A curated selection; not the complete text.
Provided for study purposes. Cross-check against the official source (India Code / the relevant government gazette) before citing or relying on this text — amendments and corrections may not be reflected here.
An aggrieved person means any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent.
A domestic relationship means a relationship between two persons who live or have at any point of time lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity, marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption, or are family members living together as a joint family.
A shared household means a household where the aggrieved person lives or at any stage has lived in a domestic relationship either singly or along with the respondent, and includes a household owned or tenanted either jointly by them or by either of them, in respect of which either the aggrieved person or the respondent has any right, title, interest or equity, including a household which may belong to the joint family of which the respondent is a member, irrespective of whether the respondent or the aggrieved person has any right, title or interest in it.
Any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent constitutes domestic violence where it harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person, or tends to do so, and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic abuse; or harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coercing her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person.
An aggrieved person, 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. Before passing any order, the Magistrate shall take into consideration any domestic incident report received from the Protection Officer or the service provider. The Magistrate shall endeavour to dispose of every application within a period of sixty days from the date of its first hearing.
Every woman in a domestic relationship has the right to reside in the shared household, whether or not she has any right, title or beneficial interest in it. She shall not be evicted or excluded from the shared household or any part of it by the respondent save in accordance with the procedure established by law.
The Magistrate may, after being satisfied that domestic violence has taken place or is likely to take place, pass a protection order prohibiting the respondent from committing any act of domestic violence, aiding or abetting such acts, entering the place of employment or school of the aggrieved person, attempting to communicate with her, alienating any assets or operating bank lockers or accounts held jointly, causing violence to the dependants or relatives of the aggrieved person, or committing any other act specified in the order.
The Magistrate may pass a residence order restraining the respondent from dispossessing or in any other manner disturbing the possession of the aggrieved person from the shared household, directing the respondent to remove himself from the shared household, restraining the respondent or his relatives from entering any portion of the shared household in which the aggrieved person resides, restraining the respondent from alienating or disposing of the shared household or encumbering it, restraining the respondent from renouncing his rights in the shared household, or directing the respondent to secure the same level of alternate accommodation for the aggrieved person or to pay rent for it. No order directing the respondent to remove himself from the shared household shall be passed against any person who is a woman.
The Magistrate may direct the respondent to pay monetary relief to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence, including loss of earnings, medical expenses, loss caused by the destruction, damage or removal of property, and maintenance for the aggrieved person and her children. The relief granted shall be adequate, fair and reasonable and consistent with the standard of living to which the aggrieved person is accustomed.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, the Magistrate may, at any stage of a hearing of an application for protection or for any other relief under this Act, grant temporary custody of any child or children to the aggrieved person or to the person making an application on her behalf, and specify the arrangements for visit of such child by the respondent, or refuse to allow such visit where it may be harmful to the interests of the child.
In addition to other reliefs, the Magistrate may on an application by the aggrieved person pass an order directing the respondent to pay compensation and damages for the injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress, caused by the acts of domestic violence committed by that respondent.
In any proceeding before him under this Act, the Magistrate may pass such interim order as he deems just and proper. Where the Magistrate is satisfied that an application prima facie discloses that the respondent is committing, or has committed, an act of domestic violence, or that there is a likelihood that the respondent may commit such an act, he may grant an ex parte order on the basis of an affidavit of the aggrieved person.
A breach of a protection order, or of an interim protection order, by the respondent is an offence punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year, or with a fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees, or with both. The offence is cognizable and non-bailable, and shall as far as practicable be tried by the Magistrate who passed the order the breach of which is alleged.
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