Evidence from proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act cannot be used in civil proceedings.

JUDGMENT :

SHARAD KUMAR SHARMA, J.

1. The present petitioner, who is a plaintiff, in a Suit No. 2 of 2020, Ritu Kaushal vs. Jaswant Kaur and Others. The suit, thus, instituted by the plaintiff/petitioner, was for the grant of decree of permanent injunction in relation to the property more appropriately described in the body of plaint itself, but since, the issue involved in the present writ petition being entirely distinct, the detailed scrutiny of the factual backdrop of the case is not required to be gone into by this Court.

2. The short controversy, which is being attempted to be argued by the learned counsel for the petitioner, is that as to whether the evidence, which has been led in the proceedings under section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act, they could be borrowed to be read in the civil proceedings. The said attempt made by the learned counsel for the petitioner was foiled by the trial court’s order as rendered on 16.03.2023, by virtue of which, there was a denial by the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Nainital, to permit the plaintiff to lead the evidence, which was adduced in the proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act holding thereof that the evidence laid in the criminal proceedings cannot be read while deciding the civil suit.

3. In support of his contentions, the learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to a judgment as rendered by the Hon’ble Apex Court and reported in 2021 SCC Online Mad. 8731, Dr. P. Pathmanathan and Others vs. Tmt. V. Monica and Another, wherein, particularly, the learned counsel for the petitioner has made a reference to the paragraph nos.32 and 75, and ultimately, the analysis made by the aforesaid judgment, in its paragraph no. 29, in fact the logic, which has been drawn by the Hon’ble Apex Court for the purposes of leading the evidence, which has been adduced in the criminal proceedings while deciding the civil litigation. If paragraph no. 30, is taken into consideration in fact it was not laying down any law, as such, but rather the ultimate conclusion, which has been drawn by the Hon’ble Apex Court. The same is extracted hereunder:

“29. The distinction between a “civil” and “criminal” proceeding was explained by a Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in S.A.L. Narayan Row vs. Ishwarlal Bhagwandas, AIR 1965 SC 1818, wherein it was observed thus:

“The expression “civil proceeding” is not defined in the Constitution, nor in the General Clauses Act. The expression in our judgment covers all proceedings in which a party asserts the existence of a civil right conferred by the civil law or by statute, and claims relief for breach thereof. A criminal proceeding on the other hand is ordinarily one in which if carried to its conclusion it may result in the imposition of sentences such as death, imprisonment, fine or forfeiture of property. It also includes proceedings in which in the larger interest of the State, orders to prevent apprehended breach of the peace, orders to bind down persons who are a danger to the maintenance of peace and order, or orders aimed at preventing vagrancy are contemplated to be passed.”

30. The Supreme Court eventually formulated the following test for examining the character of a proceeding before a Court or authority:

“The character of the proceeding, in our judgment, depends not upon the nature of the tribunal which is invested with authority to grant relief, but upon the nature of the right violated and the appropriate relief which may be claimed. A civil proceeding is, therefore, one in which a person seeks to enforce by appropriate relief the alleged infringement of his civil rights against another person or the State, and which if the claim is proved would result in the declaration express or implied of the right claimed and relief such as payment of debt, damages, compensation, delivery of specific property, enforcement of personal rights, determination of status.”

4. In the said judgment rendered by the three Judges Bench of the Hon’ble