Karnataka High Court sets 60-day timeline to decide on domestic row, maintenance cases

Justice M Nagaprasanna said that a woman who is a victim of domestic violence, knocking at the doors of the magistrate, seeking maintenance or shelter, will have to be addressed with immediacy.

Karnataka High Court ( Photo | Debdutta Mitra, EPS) 

BENGALURU: Taking serious note of the plight of a woman who did not get maintenance and other benefits for close to five years, due to a delay in disposal of the application filed before the court after she moved out of the matrimonial house, the Karnataka High Court has set a timeline to address grievances of such victims.

It will apply to courts handling cases arising out of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.  

Allowing a petition filed by a 28-year-old from Banashankari 3rd Stage in Bengaluru, with a direction to the magistrate to dispose of her 2018 application within four weeks, Justice M Nagaprasanna said that a woman who is a victim of domestic violence, knocking at the doors of the magistrate, seeking maintenance or shelter, will have to be addressed with immediacy. 

It is for this reason that the statute mandates that such applications have to be disposed of within 60 days, in terms of sub-section (5) of Section 12 of the Act, failing which, such cases would mushroom and defeat the very purpose of promulgation of the Act, the judge said. 

“It is often said that ‘justice delayed is justice denied...’ Adherence to the timeline would be of paramount importance, as a remedy under Section 12 to an aggrieved person is imperative...,” the court said, directing magistrates to decide applications filed by aggrieved persons within the time frame.

DIRECTIONS TO MAGISTRATES

• Court will decide on applications filed under Section 12 within  60 days. If there is any deviation, the reasons have to be recorded in writing
• The husband shall be granted four weeks to file his assets and liabilities statement for a decision on an application filed under Section 20 of the Act. If not filed within the time frame, court shall accept the application filed by the wife/aggrieved person and pass appropriate orders
• Objections, if any, to the application filed by the aggrieved person under Sections 18 and 19 by the opposite party, shall be filed within four weeks from the date of receipt of the notice, failing which, the court will be at liberty to pass appropriate orders 
• To achieve the timeline, court shall draw up and regulate its procedure in terms of its inherent power under Section 28(2)