Filing domestic violence case is not an act of cruelty

Case - Sandhya Wankhede V/s Manoj Bhimrao Wankhede 

An aggrieved wife or female living in a relationship like a marriage may also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the male partner.

According to Section 2(q) of DVA, an aggrieved person can file a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act against an adult male person only and not against the husband's female relatives, i.e. mother-in-law, sister-in-law. However, the Supreme Court, in the case mentioned above, put to rest the issue by holding that the proviso to Section 2(q) does not exclude female relatives of the husband or male partner from the ambit of a complaint that can be made under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act. Therefore, complaints are maintainable against the adult male person and the female relative of such an adult male.

and, The Karnataka High Court, in one recent case, has ruled that filing a complaint against her spouse under the domestic violence act cannot be seen as an act of cruelty.

“A husband assaulting his wife is an offence under the Domestic Violence Act. The Parliament has conferred a right on the wife to protect her interest. If the wife exercises her right and lodges a complaint, it cannot be called an act of cruelty,”