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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Neena Bansal Krishna, J.
Niharika Ghosh @ Niharika Kundu, W/o Sh. Shankar Ghosh - Petitioner
Versus
State (NCT of Delhi) And Ors. - Respondents
CRL.M.C. 3800 of 2025
Decided On : 25-08-2025
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. background of the marriage and domestic violence (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 2. computation of domestic violence and related legal actions (Para 6 , 7 , 8) |
| 3. intervention and reports by the protection officer (Para 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14) |
| 4. continuing legal proceedings in dv act cases (Para 15 , 16 , 17) |
| 5. petitioner's arguments against lower court's decisions (Para 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 24) |
| 6. arguments made by the respondents (Para 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30) |
| 7. statutory interpretations and references to judgments (Para 31 , 32 , 33) |
| 8. compliance issues within dv proceedings (Para 34 , 35 , 36) |
| 9. interpretation of the protection order (Para 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42) |
| 10. nature and implications of the dv act (Para 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47) |
| 11. clarification of protection and residence orders (Para 48 , 49 , 50 , 51) |
| 12. breach of protection order legal principles (Para 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60) |
| 13. merge of previous orders and their implications (Para 61 , 62 , 63 , 64) |
| 14. final decision rationale (Para 65 , 66 , 67) |
| 15. judgment dismissal and final order (Para 68) |
JUDGMENT :
Neena Bansal Krishna, J.
1. Criminal Petition under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as ' BNSS ') [corresponding to Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C)], has been filed on behalf of the Petitioner/Niharika Ghosh @ Niharika Kundu against impugned Order dated 24.01.2025 passed by learned ASJ, South District, Saket Courts, New Delhi upholding the Order of learned MM dated 29.04.2024 in CC No.391/2023, dismissing the Complaint under Section 31 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as 'DV Act') for committing breach of the Protection Order dated06.02.2020.
2. Briefly stated, the Petitioner/Niharika Ghosh @ Niharika Kundu got married to Respondent No.2/Shankar Ghosh on 21.04.2014 according to Hindu rites, customs and ceremonies. According to the Petitioner, various dowry/Istridhan articles including much gold jewellery, other valuable goods and cash as demanded by Respondent No.2, Respondent No.3/Sandhya Ghosh and their family members, were given. Rs.12,00,000/- were spent on the marriage, despite which Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and their family members were not happy.
3. After marriage, the Petitioner started living in her matrimonial house, i.e., H. No.62-D, Humayunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi in a shared Household with Respondent No.2/her Husband (Shankar Ghosh), Respondent No.3/her Mother-in-Law (Sandhya Ghosh), Brother-in-Law (Jeth) and Sister-in-Law (Jethani).
4. The case of the Petitioner is that from the very early days of her marriage, she was abused, beaten, harassed, taunted and ugly remarks were passed at her by Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and their family members, as they were dissatisfied with the dowry articles and demanded Rs.1,00,000/- in cash. Their atrocities increased day by day.
5. The Petitioner claimed that Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and their family members perpetuated various acts of domestic violence against her including but not limited to frequent physical assaults, treating her with cruelty for not fulfilling their illegal dowry demands, causing miscarriage, indulging unnatural sex and such like activities.
6. The Petitioner then made a Complaint at Crime Against Women (CAW) Cell, Nanak Pura, on which FIR No.0066/2017 under Sections 498A/406/34 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 (hereinafter referred to as 'IPC') was registered at PS CAW Cell, Nanak Pura. Chargesheet was filed and Charges were framed against Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and the matter is still pending trial.
7. Thereafter, the Petitioner filed a Complaint dated 16.12.2016 under Section 12 DV Act, wherein she claimed various reliefs.
8. Two Divorce Petitions on the ground of cruelty were filed by Respondent No.2/the husband, but both were false, fabricated and baseless allegations. First Divorce Petition was withdrawn jointly by the Petitio
A directive ensuring basic amenities does not qualify as a protection order under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, thus its breach is not actionable under the associated penal prov....
Violation of monetary orders under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act does not constitute an offence under Section 31, which applies only to breaches of protection orders.
(1) Breach of protection order – Section 31 of D.V. Act.applies only to breach of protection orders mentioned in Section 18 and not to residence orders mentioned in Section 19, monetary reliefs menti....
Section 31 of the Domestic Violence Act applies only to breaches of protection orders under Section 18, not to maintenance orders under Section 20.
Section 20(d) authorises a Magistrate to grant maintenance for aggrieved person as well as her children.
An order for maintenance under the Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act is not a protection order and must be enforced under the provisions of the J&K Cr.P.C., specificall....
Non-payment of maintenance under the D.V. Act does not fall within penal provisions of Section 31, which strictly applies to violations of protection orders under Section 18.
Protection order does not include order of granting monetary relief of maintenance under Section 20 of D.V. Act, 2005.
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