New Delhi: The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that not only the aggrieved wife but also the mother and sister of the man can invoke the Domestic Violence Act.The Centre pointing out that at present the law was invoked by the aggrieved daughters-in-law facing domestic, matrimonial or dowry related violence.
It said that a mother or sister can invoke the Act only against the son or brother, but not against the daughter-in-law. “The scope of definition is wide enough to include a person as aggrieved who lives or at any stage... with the respondent (husband/male relation).” it said.
Any woman can seek relief: centre
A daughter or mother who may be living elsewhere would be entitled to relief under the Act in case they fall under the definition of “aggrieved person’ and have lived in a domestic relationship in a shared household with the respondent at any stage,” the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare Department has said in an affidavit.
The affidavit has been filed in response to an earlier directive by the top court to the Centre and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on interpretation of the law as to whether the DV Act can be invoked only by the wife or other women too.
The apex court had also asked whether a mother, daughter or other relatives can seek action under the DV Act. Further it wanted to know whether any case under DV Act can be filed against daughter-in-law by the mother/sisters.
The court had sought the A-G’s views on a petition filed by a daughter-in-law challenging a Bombay high court, judgment of September 2015, which had ruled that she could be prosecuted under the Act on a complaint from her mother-in-law. According to the Centre, any woman who has been a victim of domestic violence can seek relief under the Act.
