ORDER

1. Learned counsel for the State of Arunachal Pradesh submitted that the said State was impleaded subsequent to the order imposing costs of Rs.5,000/-. Hence, an application seeking waiver of the costs is being filed during the course of the day.

2. Taking note of the said submission, the order for payment of costs of Rs.5000/- is set-aside with regard to the State of Arunachal Pradesh.

3. We have heard learned senior counsel for the petitioner and learned ASG for Union of India and learned counsel for National Legal Services Authority (for short "NALSA") and all learned standing counsel for the respective States and Union Territories who are present.

4. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 enacted two decades ago is an Act to provide for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution of India to those who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. This Act has been passed in furtherance of Article 15(3) of the Constitution of India which provides inter alia for protection of women and children.

5. Learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that this Court has entertained this Writ Petition in the year 2021 and has passed several directions from time to time. However, there is need to focus on certain aspects of the Act.

6. In this regard she has highlighted that there is need for appointment of protection officers under Section 8 of the Act. Section 8 of the Act reads as under:

"8. Appointment of Protection Officers.-

(1) The State Government shall, by notification, appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary and shall also notify the area or areas within which a Protection Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred on him by or under this Act.

(2) The Protection Officers shall as far as possible be women and shall possess such qualifications and experience as may be prescribed.

(3) The terms and conditions of service of the Protection Officer and the other officers subordinate to him shall be such as may be prescribed."

7. Section 9 delineates the duties and functions of Protection Officers. She, therefore, submitted that dedicated Protection Officers have to be appointed by the States/Union Territories for rendering effective services to women who are victims of domestic violence. However, till such time such dedicated officers are appointed, there is an absolute necessity for designating certain officers at the Taluka and District level for rendering services as Protection Officers to victims of domestic violence. She submitted that the casting of responsibilities on officers who are involved in ICDS work or who are Anganwadi workers would not be of much assistance. Therefore, she sought a direction that the States and Union Territories may designate certain officers who are working in the Department of Women and Child at Districts and Taluka levels to be also designated as Protection Officers under Section 8 of the Act.

8. Learned senior counsel next submitted that Section 10 speaks of service providers. For ease of reference Section 10 is extracted as under:

"10. Service providers.-

(1) Subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, any voluntary association registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) or a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) or any other law for the time being in force with the objective of protecting the rights and interests of women by any lawful means including providing of legal aid, medical, financial or other assistance shall register itself with the State Government as a service provider for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A service provider registered under sub-section (1) shall have the power to-

(a) record the domestic incident report in the prescribed form if the aggrieved person so desires and forward a copy thereof to the Magistr