‘Can’t cheat as well as teach husband a lesson’ | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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‘Can’t cheat as well as teach husband a lesson’

Hindustan Times | BySumit Saxena, New Delhi
Feb 27, 2009 11:38 PM IST

An adulterous wife cannot seek relief against her husband under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, a city court has ruled, reports Sumit Saxena.

An adulterous wife cannot seek relief against her husband under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, a city court has ruled.

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Metropolitan Magistrate Surya Malik Grover said: “To enjoy the benefits of the provision (Prevention of Domestic Violence Act), the lady must come to the court with clean hands, as she should not be guilty of adultery…”

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The court said, “the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act was enacted to provide speedy and expedient remedy to protect hapless victims of pervasive acts of violence occurring within family, and not to give the woman complete immunity from getting away with any kind of misdeed.”

The case

After 18 years of marriage, Sheila had filed a case against her husband Mohit (both names changed), accusing him of persistently demanding dowry and subjecting her to mental and physical torture.

She had prayed to the court to remove her husband from their shared house in the posh Greater Kailash locality in South Delhi.

The husband, however, refuted her allegations pointing out that she had not complained about this before in their 18-year marriage.

Mohit’s lawyer Vijay Kumar Aggarwal argued that “Sheila made false complaints to cover up her extra-marital affair, and in the garb of Domestic Violence Act she wanted to take possession of the house.”

Court’s view

The court took note of the fact that in their long marriage, there was not a single police complaint or any other material on record to suggest that Sheila had suffered physical or verbal abuse at the hands of Mohit.

The court observed that trouble brewed after Sheila befriended Amit (name changed), and Mohit suspected they were having an affair.

“The suspicion of the husband is not based on a figment of imagination, as insisted by the complainant, but rather upon material proof in the form of love letters and photographs,” said the judge.

Sheila “fabricated the entire story of violence against her. Even her complaint lodged in a dowry case was cancelled, as the police did not find any substance in it,” said Mohit’s lawyer.

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