NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court, while dealing with a case under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, has noted the gravity of the proceedings, emphasizing that litigants cannot take them lightly.
“A litigant cannot be allowed to take for granted the proceedings before the court, especially when the same relates to the proceedings initiated by the victim of domestic violence,” Justice Amit Mahajan stated in an order.
“The DV (Domestic Violence) Act was enacted to provide more effective protection to the rights of women granted under the Constitution, who are the victim of violence within the family. The legislature also noting the victimization of women has provided a mechanism for grant of maintenance to women who are not in a position to maintain themselves. Such proceedings cannot be taken in a light manner” the court added.
With this observations, the high court rejected a man’s petition against a sessions court order that upheld a magisterial court’s July 2022 order directing him to pay a monthly maintenance of `6,000 to his wife.
The magisterial court order was passed on the wife’s petition under the DV Act against the husband and his family.
Approaching the high court, the man argued that he came to know about the July 2022 sessions court order only in October 2022 when a police officer came to inform him about the the execution petition filed by his wife.
Justice Mahajan, in the order, noted that the man, however, did not appear before the executing court and filed an appeal challenging the July 2022 order before the court.