JUDGMENT

K.T.Sankaran, J.

The question involved in this Writ Appeal is whether a residence order under Section 19 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Domestic Violence Act') can be granted in respect of a house owned by the mother-in-law of the applicant.

2. In S.R.Batra and another v. Taruna Batra ((2007) 3 SCC

169), the Supreme Court held thus:

“29. As regards Section 17(1) of the Act, in our opinion the wife is only entitled to claim a right to residence in a shared household, and a shared household would only mean the house belonging to or taken on rent by the husband, or the house which belongs to the joint family of which the husband is a member. The property in question in the present case neither belongs to Amit Batra nor was it taken on rent by him nor is it a joint family property of which the husband Amit Batra is a member. It is the exclusive property of appellant No.2, mother of Amit Batra. Hence it cannot be called a “shared household”.”

3. In S.R.Batra's case, the Supreme Court considered the contention put forward by the wife that the definition of 'shared household' includes a household where the person aggrieved