Live
- Chanchalguda Jail Officials Say They Haven't Received Bail Papers Yet, Allu Arjun May Stay in Jail Tonight
- BJP leaders present evidence of illegal voters in Delhi, urge EC for swift action
- Exams will not be cancelled: BPSC chairman
- Nagesh Trophy: Karnataka, T.N win in Group A; Bihar, Rajasthan triumph in Group B
- YS Jagan condemns the arrest of Allu Arjun
- Economic and digital corridors to maritime connectivity, India and Italy building vision for future, says Italian Ambassador
- SMAT 2024: Patidar's heroics guide Madhya Pradesh to final after 13 years
- CCPA issues notices to 17 entities for violating direct selling rules
- Mamata expresses satisfaction over speedy conviction in minor girl rape-murder case
- Transparent Survey Process for Indiramma Housing Scheme Directed by District Collector
SC widens scope of Domestic Violence Act; anybody can be tried
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act by ordering the words adult male to be deleted from it, paving the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.
​New Delhi: In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act by ordering the words "adult male" to be deleted from it, paving the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.
The Supreme Court has ordered striking down of the two words from section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which deals with respondents who can be sued and prosecuted under the Act for harassing a married woman in her matrimonial home.
Referring to earlier verdicts, the apex court said "the microscopic difference between male and female, adult and non adult, regard being had to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act, is neither real or substantial, nor does it have any rational relation to the object of the legislation".
Section 2(q) of the Act reads: "'respondent' means any adult male person who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief under DV Act".
A Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and RF Nariman paved way for prosecution of any person regardless- of gender or age under the DV Act, ordered deletion of the words "adult male" from the statute book saying it violated right to equality under the Constitution.
The Bench said that the words "adult male person" were contrary to the object of affording protection to women who have suffered from domestic violence "of any kind".
"We, therefore, strike down the words 'adult male' before the word 'person' in Section 2(q), as these words discriminate between persons similarly situated, and far from being in tune with, are contrary to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act," it said.
The major verdict came on an appeal against the Bombay High Court judgement, which had resorted to the literal construction of the term 'adult male' and discharged four persons, including two girls, a woman and a minor boy, of a family from a domestic violence case on the ground that they were not "adult male" and hence cannot be prosecuted under the DV Act.
