Description:
An aggrieved person under Domestic Violence Act – 2005 is entitled to ‘Monetary Relief ‘u/s 20 (i) of the Act, with a rejoinder therein that such relief may include but is not limited to :-
a) Loss of earnings
b) Medical Expenses
c) The Loss caused due to the destruction, damage or removal of any property from the control of the “Aggrieved Person†and.
d) The maintenance for the aggrieved person , as well as her children , if any including an order of maintenance u/s 125 of the Cr.P.C or any other law for the time being in force.
The definition of “ monetary relief†as provided u/s 2(K) of the D V Act 2005 reads as under
(K) “Monetary Relief†means the compensation which the magistrate may order the respondent to pay to the “ aggrieved person†at any stage during the hearing of an application, seeking any relief under this act to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person as a result of domestic violence.
The purpose and implication of this section is that any relief claimed should be as a compensation as a results of “domestic violence†only.
The maintainance for the children of the aggrieved person, therefore can’t be ordered by the magistrate as it does not come under this section, even it is claimed by the applicant.
Para 2
To invoke the provisions of Sec 125 of the Cr.P.C and to grant any such maintenance to the children, the conditions of Sec. 125 (4) shall invariably be fulfilled more over to claim , such relief u/s 125 of the Cr. P.C. the beneficiary children should be invariably and expressly made as a ‘ party’ in the application u/s 12 of the D.V Act 2005, by the “ aggrieved personâ€.
Para 3 .
Any relief in the kind of “maintenance†can’t be given suo-moto without making the beneficiaries as the “respondentsâ€
Para 4.
So long as the marriage is subsisting a spouse can’t get any maintenance and Sec 125 of the Cr.P.C can’t be invoked. Most importantly accordingly to the Sec. 18 of Hindu adaptations and maintenance Act, a wife’s first duty to the husband is to fulfill her marital obligations and to remain under his roof and protection.
Para 5.
Therefore the monetary reliefs u/s (20) of the D V act is temporary in nature and is intended to fulfill the monetary reliefs run concurrently till the disposal of the cases and /or till such losses are fully reimbursed .
Once the case is disposed off by the court deciding that the applicant is not an “ aggrieved person†the applicant can’t claim any such relief even after the disposal of the case and after paying the maintenance fully as ordered by the court . In other words the grants of “ monetary reliefs “ u /s 20 of the D V Act 2005 is co-terminus with the judgment by the courts ,please confirm the opinion URGENTLY.
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