Ex Wife Can File Domestic Violence Case Even After
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court, Justice Sandipkumar More, has recently held that a divorced wife can file a case under the Domestic Violence Act.
In the present matter husband had argued that he had obtained divorce from the wife and there was no domestic relationship between them since 2009.
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court relied on the judgement passed by the Supreme Court in the year 2022 in the matter of Prabha Tyagi vs Kamlesh Devi, wherein it was held that it is not necessary that domestic relationship should be subsisting at the time of filing of an application under the DV Act by the aggrieved person, and the aggrieved person is entitled to file an application under Section 12 of the DV Act, if the person has at any point of time lived in a relationship and has been subjected to domestic violence.
It was further observed that where an act of domestic violence is once committed, then a subsequent decree of divorce will not absolve the liability of the respondent from the offence committed or to deny the benefit to which the aggrieved person is entitled to.
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court concluded that divorced wife was included in the definition of aggrieved person under the Domestic Violence Act and, therefore, entitled to claim relief under the Domestic Violence Act.
