SUPREME COURTS GIVES LANDMARK JUDGEMENT UNDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT

The Supreme Court today delivered a landmark judgment. The apex court said that under the Domestic Violence Act, a daughter-in-law has the right to live in the house of her in-laws. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan has reversed the decision of two judges in the Tarun Batra case.

Notably, Section 17(1) of the Domestic violence Act states that every woman in a domestic relationship will have the legal right to reside in a shared household, regardless of her title or beneficial interest in it.

The woman has the right to reside even if her husband had no legal right to the house and the same was owned by the father-in-law or mother-in-law.

Domestic violence against the woman is an old age phenomenon. Women were always considered vulnerable and exploited for their position in the society.

· Legal Framework on Domestic Violence in India.

Violence is a complex issue because women are offer conditioned from birth to accept all treatment and even in sophisticated societies they refrain from taking about if for fear of reprisal from family members, guilt and shame or the belief that the perpetrators are likely to get away with their crime.

· Specific provisions of law that deals with domestic violence

Section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or his family towards a married woman.

Dowry deaths in section 304-B. If a woman dies of “unnatural causes” within seven years of marriage and has been harassed for dowry before her death, the Courts will assume that it is a case of dowry death.

· Constitutional law

Article 14- Equality before law

Article 15- Prohibits discrimination by the state against any citizen on grounds ‘only’ of caste, religion, sex, race, and place of birth. Fundamental rights are provided to every citizen of the country without any discrimination.

Article 21- Protection of life and personal liberty

Article 51 E- To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

Credit: Sushmita Sarkar