The Magistrate is required to decide on applications under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act within 60 days of the first hearing date: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court on 9th June 2022 ruled that an application submitted under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, must be considered by the Magistrate within two months (sixty days) of its submission, through the single bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna in the case of Rajamma H v. Thimmaiah V. (Writ Petition No. 11265 of 2022).
FACTS OF THE CASE:
In the present case, the petitioner filed a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, and also Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., requesting that the learned Metropolitan Magistrate give a direction of disposition in Crl. Misc. No. 120/2021.
The petitioner had approached the court, asking that it decide on the interlocutory/main application filed under the Act within three months. According to the facts, the petitioner also filed an interlocutory application for maintenance in her favour. The aforementioned application, along with the main application, was submitted on 12-11-2021. On 20-12-2021, a notice was given in the matter, and her application for maintenance was not considered.
The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that according to Section 12 of the Act, every application accompanying the main application shall be decided by the Magistrate within three months of its presentation. Due to the failure to comply with the condition, the petitioner filed the present petition, requesting that the Magistrate issued an order directing the Magistrate to accelerate the disposition of the interlocutory application.
JUDGEMENT:
The bench relied on Subsection (5) of Section 12 of the Act and noted that the order sheet shows that the application for maintenance was filed on 12-11-2021 and that six months had already gone. The order sheet showed no evidence of application consideration. As a result, the Court concluded that the petitioner was entitled to a mandamus or a direction to the learned Magistrate to dispose of the application.
The Court ordered the Magistrate to decide on the petitioner’s application within two weeks of receiving a copy of the HC order.
Accordingly, the writ petition was allowed.
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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY NIDHI KUMAR
Read the judgement at:
file:///C:/Users/H/OneDrive/Desktop/PRIME%20LEGAL/Blogs/22.07.2022/2/SMT%20RAJAMMA%20H%20v.%20THIMMAIAH%20V.pdf