Sessions court slams Mahila court for junking domestic violence case

New Delhi: A sessions court in Delhi observed that the mahila court did not take into account the family as a unit but the concept of family was important for harmony in society while setting aside the order of a mahila court which dismissed a domestic violence case after the victim woman failed to turn up in court multiple times.

According to The Indian Express, Additional sessions judge Sumit Dass passed the order saying that a harsh view must not be taken in such cases during the Covid-19

pandemic.

"The concept of family is important for harmony in society. It cannot be that unlike civil cases or property disputes, these cases ought to be disposed of where the courts are merely adjudicators but also have to perform functions including reconciliatory ones, taking into account the needs of other persons affected particularly the children," the court said, adding that looking from this prism, the order passed by the mahila court "does not take into account the family as a unit".

The court had also looked into the statement of objects in the Domestic Violence Act to state that, "these are very powerful tools or measures prescribed by the Legislature to ameliorate the status of women in the society who are subjected to domestic violence."

The matter reached the sessions court after the woman appealed against the mahila court's dismissal of the case.