Women can be booked under domestic violence act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that women can also be booked under the anti-domestic violence legislation. The ruling came about while the Court was listening to the plea of a 28-year-old woman from Nanded who was charging not only her in-laws, but her sisters-in-law for harassment.[caption id="attachment_1152679" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image of domestic violence. Reuters[/caption]Earlier, the charges against the female relatives had been struck down by a sessions court judge, but the High Court then struck it down, according to a report in the Times of India. "The view taken by the sessions judge that women will not be covered by the definition of the term 'respondent', as given in the Domestic Violence Act, is clearly contrary to law," said Justice Thipsay, according to the report.The court cited a Supreme Court judgment, which stated that the 2005 law brought in to protect women from violence in the house was maintainable against female relatives too.In May of this year, the Bombay High Court had carried out a similar judgment, wherein they had asserted that a woman can press harassment charges against female members of a family under the Domestic Violence Act.According to a report in DNA newspaper, justice Roshan Dalvi was hearing the appeal of a man who was challenging a lower court order which had allowed the cruelty complaint filed by his wife against him and his family members.Dismissing his appeal, Justice Dalvi said, “The Domestic Violence Act is required to be interpreted to enhance justice to women and not to frustrate it...The provision does not specify a male relative. Hence, female relatives cannot be exempted from it.”