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IN
Crl. Misc. No.M-36736 of 2014 (O&M) 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Crl. Misc. No.M-36736 of 2014 (O&M)
Date of decision : 31.05.2016
Amit Agarwal and others
......Petitioner(s)
Versus
Sanjay Aggarwal and others
...Respondent(s)
CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANITA CHAUDHRY
1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes/No
2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? Yes
3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest? Yes
Present: Mr. Sukhbir Singh, Advocate
for the petitioners.
Mr. A.S. Manaise, Advocate
for the respondents.
****
ANITA CHAUDHRY, J.
The instant petition has been filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
seeking quashing of complaint filed under the Domestic Violence Act.
It is necessary to give the factual issues before referring to the
legal issues. A complaint under the Domestic Violence Act was filed by
Sanjay Aggarwal, brother of Ritu Aggarwal. Ritu was married to Amit
Aggarwal in October, 2003. A child was born to them in October, 2004.
Allegations were levelled that there was demand of a car before marriage.
The family gave Rs.2 lacs in cash, gold items besides electrical goods. There
was a demand even at the time of birth of the child, the wife was beaten up
and tortured and kicked out of the house finally in June, 2006. The Istridhan
and the dowry articles were retained by the accused. A claim for
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maintenance, compensation as damages, residence in the shared house hold
was made.
The petitioners are the husband, father in law & the brother in
law. It was the second marriage for petitioner no.1. It is claimed that Ritu
left the matrimonial home in June, 2006 to attend two functions and took all
the jewellery with her to wear on the occasion at Ludhiana on 02.02.2006. It
was pleaded that petitioner no.1 and his parents had made a number of calls
but she refused to return till petitioner no.1 separated from his family. She
was insisting for a separate residence or transfer of some property in her
name. The petitioners had pleaded that petitioner no.1 got the FIR registered
against respondent no.2 on 10.09.2006. A week later Ritu got a case
registered under Section 498-A and 406 IPC against petitioner no.1, his
parents and other relatives. The FIR against the sister and brother in law was
quashed in October, 2008. The FIR qua the husband and his parents was
quashed on the ground that no part of the cause of action had arisen at
Batala, however, the Apex Court transferred the trial to Delhi. It was
pleaded that petitioner no.1 had filed a divorce petition and Ritu failed to
appear though she had been served and exparte decree of divorce was
passed. An application for setting aside the exparte decree was filed after 14
months but it was dismissed for non-prosecution on 18.07.2011. Another
application was filed for its restoration, which was pending. It was pleaded
that since a divorce had been granted, there was no domestic relationship
and the complaint under the Domestic Violence Act was not maintainable. It
was pleaded that so far as the maintenance was concerned, a petition under
Section 125 Cr.P.C. had been filed and maintenance was granted by the
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Magistrate against which an appeal had been filed, which was pending and
maintenance up to October, 2014 had been paid and all the articles had been
recovered by the police.
Respondent no.1 filed the reply and it was pleaded that the
issue of maintainability of the complaint had been raised by the petitioner
before the trial Court and it was pending and the petitioner could not raise
the same issue before this Court. It was pleaded that respondent no.1 had
filed a complaint on 01.12.2007, which was withdrawn on 27.03.2009 as the
complainant wished to withdraw the complaint and file a fresh one and a
statement in that regard was made on 27.03.2009. It was pleaded that an
exparte decree of divorce was passed and no service was effected and an
application for setting aside the decree was filed and was pending. It was
pleaded that the decree had not attained finality and the exparte decree did
not wash away the previous incidents of domestic violence and respondent
no.2 was pushed out of the house in June, 2006. It was pleaded that although
petitioner no.3 was the brother in law of petitioner no.1 and married prior to
the marriage of respondent no.2 but he was actively involved in the acts of
domestic violence. It was pleaded that an aggrieved person or a Protection
Officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person could present
an application to the Magistrate under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence
Act and he had filed the complaint on behalf of his sister. It was admitted
that a complaint was filed and was withdrawn and no liberty was granted to
file again though he had reserved his right to file again.
I have heard the counsels of both the sides.
The counsel for the petitioners had contended that the
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complaint under the Domestic Violence Act had been filed approximately
after three years from the date the wife had left the matrimonial home and
the complaint had been filed by the brother. It was urged that during her
total stay in Delhi, no complaint was given to the police though the police
station was at a walking distance. It was urged that the brother filed a
complaint and withdrew it and without disclosing that fact another
complaint was filed. It was urged that in view of the provisions contained in
D.V. Act, a complaint can be filed only within a period of one year of the
incident and since there was a divorce, the complaint was not maintainable.
It was urged that the complainant had also named the brother in law who
had been married five years prior to the marriage and he did not have a
domestic relationship and the complaint was liable to be dismissed qua him.
It was urged that the FIR was got registered against the petitioner and his
family members and the High Court had quashed the FIR partly, against the
sister and brother in law in 2008 and the FIR has been quashed against the
husband. It was urged that the wife had left the matrimonial home before the
Act came into existence and she was living in Batala and no domestic
violence could be committed by them as they had never lived together. It
was urged that so far as the maintenance was concerned, a petition under
Section 125 Cr.P.C. had been filed in the Courts at Batala and the Court had
granted maintenance to the wife and the child and there are two parallel
jurisdictions and the wife had already availed the remedy of filing a petition
under Section 125 Cr.P.C. and later a petition under Section 127 Cr.P.C. was
filed seeking enhancement of the interim maintenance. It was pleaded that
the wife was an income-tax assessee and she had a D-Mat account and she
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held shares in the D-Mat account and was doing business and had received
Rs.2,49,000/- from the first husband as full and final settlement.
The submission on the other hand was that a complaint was
filed earlier where a statement was given and liberty was sought for
instituting another complaint and therefore, second complaint was filed after
few days. It was urged that the brother had filed the complaint and there is
no restriction and any person can file a complaint on behalf of the aggrieved
person. It was urged that the question of limitation did not arise as the wife
was asking for residence and maintenance which was a recurring cause of
action. It was urged that an application has been filed before the Court
below on the similar lines and the petitioners could not have filed a petition
under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
A perusal of the petition would show that in the title, the
petitioner has sought quashing of Annexure P-3, which is a complaint,
which had already been withdrawn. It appears that the correction made with
the ink was erroneous otherwise an objection would have been taken by
respondent. The petitioner is seeking quashing of Annexure P-1.
Few facts need to be noticed first. Sanjay Aggarwal, brother of
Ritu filed a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act some time in
November, 2007, which was subsequently withdrawn vide Annexure P-4.
Though the complainant had sought liberty to file a fresh complaint but the
order dated 27.03.2009 (Annexure P-5) shows that no such liberty was
granted. The husband had filed a petition seeking dissolution of the
marriage. Service was effected on the respondent and she failed to appear
and was proceeded exparte and exparte decree of divorce was passed on
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16.05.2008. The complaint under the D.V. Act was filed against the
husband, his father and brother in law. The brother in law admittedly is
residing separately, though in the same city. Exparte decree of divorce has
not been set aside till date.
Two important issue arise in the case. Whether the wife can file
a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act when the relationship has
come to an end with a decree of divorce and whether a petition under
Section 482 Cr.P.C. would be maintainable.
Coming to the issue of maintainability, the submission on
behalf of the petitioner was that the inherent powers under Section 482
Cr.P.C. can be exercised whether it is found that the allegations are
groundless or where the complaint can not proceed then the parties cannot
be left to undergo the agony of a criminal trial.
The submission of the other side was that an application had
been filed before the trial Court and the trial Court was yet to examine the
issue and the petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. would not be maintainable.
The Apex Court, in the case of Kailash Chandra Agarwal &
Anr. Vs State of U.P. & Ors., reported in 2014 AIR (SCW) 6152 noticed
that the complaint did not attribute specific role to the relatives of the
husband and it was quashed, by referring to the judgment in the case of
Kans Raj Vs. State of Punjab & Ors. ((2000) 5 SCC 207), which reads thus:
"5........A tendency has, however, developed for roping in all relations
of the in-laws of the deceased wives in the matters of dowry deaths 14
which, if not discouraged, is likely to affect the case of the prosecution
even against the real culprits. In their over enthusiasm and anxiety to
seek conviction for maximum people, the parents of the deceased have
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been found to be making efforts for involving other relations which
ultimately weaken the case of the prosecution even against the real
accused as appears to have happened in the instant case."
This question has been examined in a number cases. The Apex
Court in Ashish Dixit and others Vs. State of U.P. and another
MANU/SC/0156/2013 had quashed the proceedings under the Domestic
Violence Act in a petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. This High Court
in Jasvir Kaur and another Vs. Manpreet Kaur in CRM No.M-29792 of
2011 allowed the petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing
of the complaint filed under the Domestic Violence Act. The Karnatka High
Court in Smt. Nagarathnamma Vs. M.S. Vanithashree in Cr, P.
No.5246/2010 had allowed the petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
Thus a complaint can be quashed in the petition filed under Section 482
Cr.P.C. if it is found that the complaint was an abuse of the process of the
Court or has filed only with a view to harass the other side.
The complaint had filed by the brother. An objection was taken
that no authority had been given to the complainant to lodge a complaint. It
is necessary to notice Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act. It reads as
under:-
Section 12 in The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
12. 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 would show that a complaint can be
filed by an aggrieved person or a Protection Officer or any other person on
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behalf of the aggrieved person and there is no bar and the other person on
behalf of the aggrieved person can file a complaint.
A perusal of the record reveals that the complaint had been filed
which was withdrawn and liberty was taken to lodge a fresh complaint but
no liberty was granted and the fact that earlier a complaint was filed and was
withdrawn, was not mentioned in Annexure P-1.
The next question is does the aggrieved person even mean a
'divorced woman'. Answer to the question lies in the definition provided in
Section 2 (a), it defines the aggrieved person as under:-
"2 (a) "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"
The use of the word is any woman 'who is' or 'has been'. Both
the expressions are in the present tense. The legislature has not used the
word 'who was' or 'had been'. This means the domestic relationship has to be
in the present and not in the past. The definition requires that on the date Act
come into force, the woman should be in domestic relationship.
The definition of domestic relationship given under Section 2
(f) further supports the view that the requirement under D.V.Act is that the
relationship which is the basis of invoking the jurisdiction under D.V.Act
has to be in the present. Section 2 (f) of the D.V.Act reads as under:
(f) "domestic relationship" means a relationship
between two persons who live or have, at any point
of time, lived together in a shared household, when
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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;
The definition clearly speaks of a domestic relationship
between two persons who live or have at any point of time lived together in
a shared household and are related by marriage or through a relationship in
the nature of marriage. This definition also speaks about the existence of a
relationship by marriage or a relationship in the nature of marriage at the
time. The expression used is 'are related' by marriage. The expression by the
legislature is not 'were related'. From the bare reading of these two
provisions it is apparent that the intention of the legislature is to protect
those women who are living in a domestic relationship.
The contention of the respondent was that when the wife can
move the jurisdiction of the court under Section 125 Cr.P.C., nothing
prevents her from invoking the jurisdiction of the court under D.V.Act. It
was further contended that the expression used under Section 2 (f) 'at any
point of time lived together' also includes a divorced wife.
This issue has been examined in (2010) DLT 67 titled
Harbans Lal Malik vs. Payal Malik wherein it had been held:
"11. It is apparent that in order to make a person as
respondent in a petition under Section 12, there must exist a
domestic relationship between the respondent and the
aggrieved person. If there is no domestic relationship between
the aggrieved person and the respondent, the Court of MM
cannot pass an order against such a person under the Act.
Domestic relationship is defined under Section 2 (f) of the
Act and is as under:
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"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;
It is apparent that domestic relationship arises between the two
persons, who have lived together in a shared household and 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.
The definition speaks of living together at any point of time however it does
not speak of having relation at any point of time. Thus, if the domestic
relationship continued and if the parties have lived together at any point of
time in a shared household, the person can be a respondent but if the
relationship does not continue and the relationship had been in the past and
is not in the present, a person cannot be made respondent on the ground of a
past relationship. The domestic relationship between the aggrieved person
and the respondent must be present and alive at the time when the complaint
under Domestic Violence Act is filed.
It has been held in Harbans Lal Malik (supra) that definition of
'wife' as available in Section 125 Cr.PC cannot be merged into Domestic
Violence Act. Section 125 specifically provides that the wife means
'divorced wife'. Explanation under Section 125 (1) (b) reads as under:
(b) "wife" includes a woman who has been divorced by, or
has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not
remarried;
The court had further observed as under:
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19. I, also consider that the definition of "wife" as
available under Section 125 Cr.P.C could not be imported
into Domestic Violence Act. The Legislature was well aware
of Section 125 Cr.P.C. and if Legislature intended, it would
have defined "wife" as in Section 125 Cr.P.C in Domestic
Violence Act as well. The purpose and object of Domestic
Violence and provision under Section 125 Cr.P.C. is
different. While Domestic Violence Act has been enacted by
the Parliament to prevent acts of domestic violence on women
living in a shared household. Section 125 of Cr.P.C. is to
prevent vagrancy where wife is left high and dry without
maintenance. Law gives a right to claim maintenance under
Civil Law as well as Section 125 Cr.P.C. even to a divorced
wife, but an act of domestic violence cannot be committed on
a divorced wife, who is not living with her husband or family
and is free to live wherever she wants. She has a right to
claim maintenance and enforce other rights as per law. She
has a right to claim custody of children as per law but denial
of these rights do not amount to domestic violence. .... .... .....
20. This definition pre supposes that the woman is living
with the person who committed violence and domestic
relationship is not dead buried or severed. This does not speak
of past violence which a woman suffered before grant of
divorce."
It is apparent that the provisions under the D.V.Act can be
invoked only when the domestic relationship is in existence. Where the
domestic relationship ceases, the provisions under the D.V.Act cannot be
invoked.
In the present case, a decree of divorce had been passed.
Though it was an exparte decree but it has not been set aside by the
competent Court. Once the domestic relationship came to an end after the
decree of divorce the complaint under the Domestic Violence Act could not
have been filed. It is necessary to refer to the observations made in Inderjit
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Singh Grewal's case (supra):-
“24. Submissions made by Shri Ranjit Kumar on the issue of
limitation, in view of the provisions of Section 468 Cr.P.C., that the
complaint could be filed only within a period of one year from the
date of the incident seem to be preponderous in view of the
provisions of Sections 28 and 32 of the Act 2005 read with Rule
15(6) of The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules,
2006 which make the provisions of Cr.P.C. applicable and stand
fortified by the judgments of this court in Japani Sahoo v. Chandra
Sekhar Mohanty, AIR 2007 SC 2762; and Noida Entrepreneurs
Association v. Noida & Ors., (2011) 6 SCC 508.
25. In view of the above, we are of the considered opinion that
permitting the Magistrate to proceed further with the complaint under
the provisions of the Act 2005 is not compatible and in consonance
with the decree of divorce which still subsists and thus, the process
amounts to abuse of the process of the court. Undoubtedly, for
quashing a complaint, the court has to take its contents on its face
value and in case the same discloses an offence, the court generally
does not interfere with the same. However, in the backdrop of the
factual matrix of this case, permitting the court to proceed with the
complaint would be travesty of justice. Thus, interest of justice
warrants quashing of the same.”
A FIR had been lodged by the wife against the husband and
other relatives. The FIR has been quashed qua the relatives. The FIR qua the
husband was also quashed as the Court did not have the jurisdiction,
however, the trial was transferred to Delhi from Batala by the Apex Court.
The aggrieved person had also filed a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. and
interim maintenance has been granted.
Considering the above, it is held that the present complaint is an
abuse of the process of the Court. The domestic relationship had come to an
end. The complainant had impleaded relatives who were not living in the
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shared house and permitting the Magistrate to proceed with the complaint
would be an abuse of the process of law. The complaint and the proceedings
therein are quashed.
Before parting, it may be clarified that the aggrieved person
would be entitled to continue with other cases in accordance with law
without being influenced with the observations made herein. The said
observation has been made only to decide the petition filed under Section
482 Cr.P.C.
The petition is allowed.
31.05.2016 (ANITA CHAUDHRY)
sunil JUDGE
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