Important Point – Till the time marital tie subsists, application or proceedings under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act can survive and are very much maintainable so as to grant necessary relief.

1. This Revision Application is preferred challenging the Judgment and Order dated 15th February 2014 of Additional Sessions Judge, Niphad, Dist. Nashik, in Criminal Appeal No.54 of 2011, thereby dismissing the said Appeal, which was preferred against the order of protection granted to Respondent Nos.1 and 2, under Section 18 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

2. Facts of the Revisions are to the effect that Respondent No.1 is legally wedded wife of Applicant No.1. Respondent No.2 is born out of the wed-lock. The marriage of Respondent No.1 and Applicant No.1 was solemnized on 3rd March 2002. Few months thereafter, she was constrained to leave the house on account of domestic violence. Hence, after issuing a notice dated 6th December 2003, she filed Criminal Miscellaneous Application No.28 of 2005 for maintenance, under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. In the said application, the amicable settlement took place on 5th March 2006 and she went to co-habit with Applicant No.1. Thereafter again subjecting her to harassment and cruelty, she was driven out of the house within three months.

Meanwhile, she had also filed a criminal case against Applicant No.1 and his family members for the offence punishable under Section 498-A r/w. 34 of IPC. In the said case, on 4th July 2009, Applicants were acquitted. Few months thereafter, on 18th January 2010, Respondent No.1 filed Criminal Miscellaneous Application No.19 of 2010 before the Trial Court seeking various reliefs of protection and residence in the shared household, as contemplated under the Domestic Violence Act.

3. The said application was resisted by the present Applicants contending, inter alia, that there was no domestic relationship in existence at the time of filing the application and there was also no substance in the contention of Respondent No.1 that she was subjected to any domestic violence. It was urged that the criminal case filed by her against the present Applicants has ended into acquittal, thereby negating her case that she was subjected to any harassment or ill-treatment. Further, it was denied that, as a result of amicable settlement in Criminal Miscellaneous Application for maintenance bearing No.28 of 2005, she has resumed co-habitation and hence it was urged that, as domestic relationship itself is not in existence and the application is filed only as a counter blast to the acquittal of the Applicants in the case filed by her under Section 498-A r/w. 34 of IPC, the application deserves to be dismissed.

4. In support of their respective contentions, Respondent No.1 and present Applicant No.1 examined themselves and on appreciation of their evidence and keeping in mind the provisions of Domestic Violence Act, the Trial Court passed a protection order in favour of Respondent No.1, restraining the Applicants from subjecting her to any sort of domestic violence and further restraining the present Applicants from restraining Respondent No.1 from residing in the shared household and also from driving her out of the said house.

5. The Applicants challenged the said order before the Appellate Court, however, as referred above, the Appellate Court dismissed their Appeal. In this Revision Application, the first point raised by learned counsel for the Applicants is that, at the relevant time, when application under the provisions of Domestic Violence Act was filed before the Trial Court, the domestic relationship was not in existence at all, as parties were residing separately since the year 2003 i.e. within few months or a year after the marriage.

6. In support of his submissions, learned counsel for the Applicants has relied upon the definition of the ‘Domestic Relationship’, as given in Section 2(f), the definition of ‘Aggrieved Person’, as given in Section 2(a), and the definition of ‘Shared Household’, as given in Section 2(s) of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

According to these definitions, ‘Aggrieved Person’ means, ‘any woman who is,