IN
THE COURT OF DISTRICT JUDGE, ____________
IN
THE MATTER OF:
IN
THE MATTER OF:
1. ________________
W/O
SHRI _______________
D/O
_________________
R/O
___________________
_____________.
COMPLAINANT/PETITIONER
VERSUS
SHRI
____________
S/O
_________________
R/O
_______________
SHRI
_______________
S/o
late Shri ___________ R/o __________________
SMT
______________________
W/o
SHRI _____________
R/o ________________________
..ACCUSED/RESPONDENT
P.S. _____________
APPLICATION
UNDER SECTION 12 OF THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2005 (43
of 2005) MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1.
That the present application is being filed
by the Complainant herein under Sections 12, 18 (d), (e) and (f), 19 (f), 20(i)
b) and (d), 22 and 23 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
2005.
2.
The numerous incidents of physical abuse,
verbal abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse committed by the Respondent on
the Complainant are as described hereunder:
a)
Marriage was solemnized between the
Complainant and the Respondent No. 1 on ___________ at _____________________
according to Hindu Rites and ceremonies. Ever since, i.e. for the last ___
years, the Complainant has been suffering physical and mental abuse, pain,
helplessness, unhappiness and anger on account of the Respondent No. 1 and his
family. Eventually, being unable to bear with the trauma and agony, the
Complainant fearing for her life, being destitute without any money and
stridhan has been constrained to file the present complaint.
b)
The Complainant had an arranged marriage with
the Respondent No. 1. The parties come from very different backgrounds. The
Complainant belongs to a closely knit family with a lot of family values and
culture. On the other hand, the Respondent No. 1 belongs to a business family
which is driven only by money and materialistic gains.
c)
The Complainant and her parents at the time
of marriage were made to believe that the Respondents were a very well to do
family. Believing the
Respondent No.1’s family,
marriage was arranged between the parties. A lavish wedding was held at
________________ by the Complainant’s parents and all the demands of the
Respondent No.1’s family as regards jewelry, household items, and other items
for them as well as the relatives of the Respondent No.1 were met by the
Complainant’s parents. However, the mother in law of the Complainant was not
happy with the jewelry, household items, and other items and would constantly
taunt and insult her and her parents for not getting the jewelry, household
items, and items as per their standards and name in the society. The
Complainant communicated her inhibitions about the Respondent’s family and in
particular his mother to the Respondent No.1. However the Respondent No.1 never
assured the Complainant that he would try to speak to his mother or reconcile the
differences between the Complainant and his mother.
d)
Soon after the marriage the Complainant
realized that the Respondent No.1 was very aggressive, angry and wanted to
control the Complainant in every respect. The Complainant was not given any
space or freedom to do anything in the house and was specifically told that she
can’t do a job, which the Complainant found very difficult to deal with but
owing to the values given to her by her parents, she always made every effort
to deal with the miserable situation and keep quiet for the peace of mind of
her parents. The Complainant having no choice gave herself totally to the
Respondent No.1 and his family and molded herself according to their ways,
which was very different from her side of the family.
e)
After the first year of marriage itself, the
Respondent No.2, mother-inlaw forced the Complainant to do all the household
work without any support from her mother-in-law. It would be pertinent to point
out that Respondent No.1 was doing extremely well and was earning well. He was
running a business but he was always reluctant to provide any financial support
to the Complainant despite being financially very well off.
f)
The Complainant lived in a joint family. The
Complainant’s in-laws made the Complainant do the entire household work.
Respondent No. 1 and 2 made her ____________________________. The Complainant
was forced to work even at the time of her pregnancy and the Respondent No.1
never bothered to care about
the health or the state of the Complainant. He spent no time with her. The nine months were lonely and sorrowful. So
much so that when the Complainant delivered her son _____, her mother in law
was not happy as she wanted to get rid of the Complainant. She voiced this to
the Complainant and made the Complainant feel that the child was unwanted and
unwelcome into the family.
g)
The Complainant on many occasions would cry
after getting into bed because no one could understand the physical and mental
pain she was being put through by the Respondent No.1. The Respondent No.1
never had time to listen and would only fight and argue when the Complainant
tried to plead and talk to him. The Respondent would in his fits of rage
physically and mentally abuse the Complainant on several occasions. The
Complainant continued to tolerate this for the sake of her small child.
h)
The Complainant always made efforts to please
the Respondent No. 1 and his family. They all tolerated the Complainant as long
as the Complainant played puppet in their hands, did what they wanted and lived
how they wanted her to live. The Complainant did everything possible to make
her marriage work and in the manner the Respondent No.1 and his family wanted.
However, the Respondent No.1 was not caring towards the Complainant and never
appreciated the efforts made by the Complainant to keep him and his family
happy.
i)
The Complainant lived in a joint house for 5
years after her marriage and her life was miserable due to the aggressive,
indifferent, angry behavior of the Respondents and continuous insults,
taunting, very cold and indifferent attitude of her in laws. The Complainant
was always taunted by her in laws on the ground that her parents never gave
them enough during the marriage and on other festivals and functions. The
Complainant’s parents tried to keep them happy in every way at every occasion
by gifting Complainant’s in-laws with expensive gifts or cash but they were
never satisfied.
j)
On or about ________________ the Complainant
was beaten up by her in–laws and at that time she was pregnant with her first
Child, the Complainant was even thrown out of her in-laws House. The
Complainant called up her father who came and took the Complainant to their
house. The Complainant stayed at her parents house for one and a half month and
in between the Respondent No 1 or his family members did not bother to call or
reconcile with the Complainant. After a lot of persuasion by the father of the
Complainant the respondent finally agreed to take the Complainant in to their
house.
k)
The Complainant states that the Respondent
No.1 had a grave drinking problem and as a result, he drank alcohol very
heavily. He had no control over his drinking. The Respondent No.1 would get
drunk, get loud and abusive in the dirtiest of abuses, throw up, pass out, get
violent, spit on the Complainant and make life hell for the Complainant. The
Respondent No.1 never bothered about their son and would become abusive
physically and become totally uncontrollable in front of their child. The
Complainant’s requests and pleadings to drink within limits were met with angry
and violent physical backlash and opposition from the Respondent No.1. The Respondent No.1 treated the Complainant
with extreme cruelty.
l)
The Complainant states that when the
Respondent gets into a rage he completely loses his control, is abusive and
violent and becomes like a demon, and till today he continues with this
behavior. After ____________, there was no control over this and it became a
regular feature with the Respondent No.1 to become physically abusive and violent
and even abuse the Complainant in front of the minor son and in public. The
Complainant got no help or support from her parents in law i.e. Respondent
No.2 & 3 and on the
contrary, they encouraged and sided with the Respondent No.1 and wanted the
Complainant to cooperate with this animal behavior and live with it without
complaining or talking about it to her family. The Respondent No.1’s parents
discouraged her from telling her parents about these incidents by saying that
this would further annoy the Respondent No.1 and disturb the peace of the
family. The Respondent
No.1’s parents kept on
repeating every other day and the Complainant did not know who to turn to for
support and help as her in laws felt the Respondent’s No. 1’s behavior was
normal and took the mental and physical abuse very lightly and did not bother
to speak to the Respondent No.1 to change his behavior towards the Complainant.
m)
The Complainant was constantly living in fear
of her life as the Respondent is strong physically and has a bad temper, was
aggressive, loud and completely unpredictable in his reaction to the situation.
The Respondent No.1 would openly threaten the Complainant that he would
physically harm her in such a manner that she would repent her whole life. The
Complainant did not want to trouble her parents. The Complainant could not
share her grief with anyone and continued to give in to the Respondent No.1’s
demands in the hope that things would get better and peace would come to the
family.
n)
The Respondent No.1 not only picked up fights
and quarrels with the Complainant but also fought with the Complainant’s father
brother and family publicly, which brought huge embarrassment, shame and agony
to the Complainants. The Complainant’s plea to the Respondent No.1, to not
fight with the Complainant’s family was of no avail. The Respondent No.1’s
unreasonable and abnormal behavior continued to increase with the passage of
time and he started to threaten her for life by saying would slash her throat while
she was sleeping.
o)
The relationship between the parties became
more estranged. The Respondent No.1 continued with his assault, physical,
emotional abuse and they were like strangers living under the same roof. Things
have become so bad that the Complainant had to call her father on several
occasions to control the situation and prevent further physical abuse at the
hands of the respondent No.1 in presence of Respondent No.2 & 3.
p)
That Complainant had in the span of ___ years
of marriage got ___ abortions done. The Respondent use to come drunk to the
house late at night and would by force without the wish of the Complainant get
physical with the Complainant, resulting into making the Complainant pregnant
and then without even consulting the Complainant by force get the said
abortions done.
q)
That on or about _____ the Respondent again
got physical with the Complainant resulting in her again getting pregnant and
when the Respondent went for another abortion the doctor refused for the said
abortion as the body of the Complainant was not in the state to take up one
more abortion hence on advise of the doctor the Complainant requested the
Respondent not to abort the second Child.
r)
That on ________ when the Complainant was
three- four month pregnant the respondent No 1 along with his family members
fought with the Complainant and even beat him up, the Complainant in fear
called up her father at ______ in the night and the father of the Complainant
came and took the Complainant back with her to his house. The Complainant even
filed a case in the C W Cell against the respondent but had to withdraw the
same as she was pregnant and she was advised rest. s) That on _________ the Complainant left
the house of the
Respondent and till
___________ no one from the side of the respondent came to meet the Complainant
or even gave a call to ask about her health as she was pregnant. That during
this period the Complainant gave birth to the second Son _____________. But
still the Respondent No1 or his family member did not come to see the child and
it was finally on _____________ that after one more round of talks between the
father of the Complainant and the Respondent No. 1 that the Respondent No. 1
agreed to take the Complainant into the house of the Respondents.
t)
That after _________ when the Complainant
came back to the house of the respondent the Drinking habits of the Respondent
No 1 increased, the Respondent No 1 use to come drunk late at night and use to
even drink in the room. The physical torture of the Respondent No 1 increased
with passage of time.
u)
The Complainant could not tolerate the
torture, cruelty and behavior of the Respondents any more. The Respondents made
no efforts to check upon the Complainant or her son throughout this period who
was under such a mental stress and trauma at such a tender age.
v)
On the contrary the Respondent No.1 and
Respondent No.2 on a daily basis shout and hurl verbal abuses to the
Complainant and her family.
w)
On ___________the Respondents again abused
the Complainant and finally, fed up with all this the Complainant on
___________________ left the house of the Respondents and till date has been
staying with her parents. The Complainant felt too scared and confused and even
more helpless while she was at her in-laws house.
x)
The respondent No.1 and his family has taken
all the valuable belonging of the Complainant. The details of which were filled
before the CW Cell and the same are Annexed as Annexure ___.
y)
That the Complainant submits that the
expenses of the Complainant and the sons is as follows:-
(i)
School Fees of Son: Rs ,000/- per month
(ii)
Household expenses like food, clothing,
cleaning etc.: Rs ,000/- per month
(iii)
Transportation Expenses: Rs ,000/- per month
(iv)
Personal and medical expenses of the
Complainant and her sons: Rs ,000/- per
month
The Complainant as such
requires Rs ,000/- per month to support
herself and her children.
z)
The respondent No.1 is earning handsomely.
The exact figures are not known to the Complainant. With the view to avoid
paying maintenance and supporting the Complainant and children he is making
excuses that he is not working anywhere.
aa) In
___ years, the Complainant has selflessly given in this relationship
emotionally, physically, mentally, monetarily and demanded nothing but
self-respect, support and love which she was deprived off. The Respondent has
provided the Complainant with no financial security. The Complainant’s entire
jewellery was in possession of the Respondent No.1 and his family which the
Respondent No.1 and his family has refused to hand back. The Complainant has no
Fixed Deposit or property in her name. This has further added to the
Complainant’s insecurities, depression and frustrations.
bb)The Complainant today is
left with no self-respect, no self-esteem, no confidence, no money and
everything has been taken away from her. The Complainant is mentally and
emotionally shattered today. The Complainant is unable to look after her child
as such she has no choice but to fall on her parents for financial support. The
provision for the basics needs like food, clothing, education is being provided
from the money being given by the Complainant’s father and brother.
cc) The Complainant has
suffered immense pain and hurt from the Respondents. The Complainant has not
slept one night in peace for as long as she can remember. The Complainant is
mentally, physically and emotionally scarred/drained and she is unable to carry
on anymore like this.
dd)It is submitted that the Respondent
No.1 is having sufficient means but despite that is neglecting and refusing to
maintain the Complainant and the minor sons. Complainant is unable to maintain
herself or her sons. The addresses of the sisters of the Respondent No 1 are
not known to the Complainant and the Respondent No. 1 may be directed to
provide the same so that they can be made a party to this petition. ee) It is
prayed that the Hon’ble Court may take cognizance of the Domestic Incident and
pass the following orders, as deemed necessary in the circumstances of the
present case.
(i) Protection
Order under Section 18
Prohibiting acts of domestic
violence by granting an injunction against the Respondents from:
(ii) Monetary
reliefs under Section 20
(A) Rs. 0,000/- per month towards maintenance for
herself and her children
(B) Rs. 0,000/- towards litigation expenses
(iii) Compensation order under Section 22
(a) Direct the Respondent to pay and amount of
Rs. ____ lakhs towards compensation for damages under the Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence Act 2005.
(iv). Interim Relief under Section 23
a)
In the light of the above mentioned facts and
circumstances of the case and the fact that the Complainant is completely
without the basic necessities of food, maintenance and shelter and has no means
to survive and hence an exparte ad interim order for grant of maintenance of
Rs. 0,000/- be granted in favour of
the Complainant.
b)
The Complainant all through out her married
life has been treated by the Respondents with utmost cruelty both mental and
physical, and has a prime facie case in her favour. It is further stated that
the Respondenst have committed numerous acts of domestic violence and is entitled
to protection under the present act from the respondent by the police otherwise
grave prejudice and harm would be caused to the
Complainant and her minor
daughter
v). Details of previous litigation, if any
a)
A Complaint filed by Complainant before the C
W Cell on which an FIR has been registered. Copy of which is annexed as
Annexure____.
b)
An application filed by Complainant under
Section 125 of CrPC for maintenance. Copy of the same is annexed herewith as
Annexure _____. vi). The Complainant is residing within the local limit of
jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court and hence, this Hon’ble Court has the
jurisdiction to entertain the present petition.
PRAYER:
It is most respectfully
prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to :-
(b)
Pass all such orders or any of the order as
deem fit and proper under section 18, 20, 22 & 23 of the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
(c)
Hon’ble Court may please to direct the
Respondent to pay and amount of Rs. _________ lakhs towards compensation for
damage u/s 22 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.
(d)
pass an exparte ad interim order under
Section 23 as mentioned in Para 4 of the application.
(e)
Pass such other Order (s) as this Hon’ble
Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
COMPLAINANT
Through
____________
VERIFICATION:-
Verified at Delhi on this day of , __________ that the contents of the complaint are true
and correct to the Complainant’s knowledge and belief to be true on the basis
of legal advice received by the Complainant and the last Para is the prayer
clause of the Complainant.
COMPLAINANT
How
to file objections/written statement to wife’s DV/CrPC 125/divorce etc petition
The standard thing that
needs to be done when husbands get summons from court in maintenance/DV case is
to file objections. Ok, some people may
say that the judge will send the case to mediation first, but the useless drama
that goes by mediation is the subject of another post later. So here I provide very simple way how to
write the objections for each statement in wife’s petition. It is always advised to write your own and send
it to advocate for taking print and filing in court. Because even though wives are allowed to tell
lies and rampant contradictions, higher standards may get applied to statements
made by respondent husbands.
The standard way is like
this:
Wife’s petition says:
In the XYZ court between
Maharani DV-498A
Petitioner vs
‘Victim’-of-false-cases
Respondent
1. I
got married on XYZ date in ABC place etc.
2. I
was not given food
3. I
was beaten up
4. Husband
is impotent
5. I
was sexually abused
6. blah
blah blah
In the end, her petition
says: “I should be given 50,000 p.m maintenance, legal costs, blah blah blah…”
So your objection /written
statement should be like this:
1.
Admitted the fact of marriage of petitioner
and respondent on XYZ date in ABC place. (if the fact of marriage and
date/place are true)
2.
Petitioner’s allegation that “I was not given
food” is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same. Or maybe better to use third person format
like: Petitioner’s allegation that she was not given food is denied and she is
put to strict proof of the same.
3.
Petitioner’s allegation that she was beaten
up is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same.
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Similarly take each
para/point in petition and if something is true, you can accept that and
whatever is false you can deny in same format as above.
You can also add up some of
your own points, story, or allegations if you will. Later on the same can become part of your
evidence/affidavit. This is because if
wife makes even false allegations but we don’t even state the actual domestic
violence at hands of wife what happened; then a presumption may arise in mind
of judges that the one who makes allegations might have at least 20% truth in
those allegations, but the one who simply denies but has no counter-allegations
to make might be the culprit. Don’t ask
me the logic behind this, family courts are not run based on much logic
anyway. It’s a psychological game so one
shouldn’t be seen to be coming under any pressure. Or to take a logical perspective of human
psychology behind it: Trying only to defend may not be the right defence. Many lawyers will suggest in beginning to
focus only on denial and defending (to steer towards C-word basically), but I
tend to disagree because if the cases actually go to evidence and full trial,
not having made any allegations in the objection statement may create a
disconnect and a disadvantage.
In the end, state that “for
the reasons mentioned above, petitioner’s petition should be dismissed with
exemplary costs, in the interest of justice and equity”.
During the objections, one
need not give any evidence. But I would
not be very strict about ”don’t disclose any evidence till trial” policy
advocated by many. It’s not a purely
legal game, it’s also a psychological game, so if one can create some fear in
opponent’s minds at the very beginning of the cases by disclosing some tactical
evidence; they may feel the same fear and uncertainty that they want you to
feel about what’s going to happen next.
This can be suitably followed up to make them agree to a zero or token
alimony divorce. Else they may think
that you are scared OR you want to beg and bring wife back, which never works
in practice anyway as explained in the main Advice to men post.
Below update on 13/04/2017:
Questions on preparing and
writing WS/Objections
OP: Opposite Party (wife etc
in matrimonial petitions/complaints)
1) What is the ideal way of
preparing the WS: Deny all N allegations serially point-by-point with N
statements. Then write your own allegations in a separate section under
“Additional Plea”?
OR
Deny all N allegations and
also include our own statements in between, thus maintaining a chronological
order of statements?
A combination of both can be
probably most practical and suitable. The reason for this is that some of your
counter points and rebuttals make sense when made immediately after refuting
the false allegation point made by OP to which they are strongly connected
based on time/date of event etc. This
makes for a nice flow, and these counter points can later be used at arguments
stage too. Many a time the false
petitions of OP contain vague allegations without proper time, dates or even
chronological order. In that scenario,
you may tactically give your own version of the facts and you can put accurate
time/dates also to make it look more plausible and professionally written
too. In case the OP’s petition has
points given in random time order, you need not bother why they have made
points jumbled up in time, but just reply to each point in OP’s
petition/complaint in same order they appear.
After refuting of OP’s
points above is done, you may still have your own points to make and facts to
disclose about abuse/cruelty done to you, and give statements of facts which
are important but conveniently hidden by OP, and maybe even to unload things
off your chest and put them on paper and let the judicial process take a
decision later on whose version is closer to truth. Now you can make all these points preferably
in chronological or topical order (e.g. all child related points if any could
be made all together). It’s more
important that the points are all put on paper than aiming for perfection in
ordering, organising of logical flow etc.
Writing to perfection can be very time consuming and probably not needed
either given the OP cases are based on thin grounds. We are not writing a fiction novel but a
legal reply to a badly made OP’s petition.
What’s desirable and enough is that your WS reply should make for a
logical reading and an unfolding story.
2)
While denying the allegations, it is advisable to:
Just deny generally like
“allegation that she was not given food is denied and she is put to strict
proof of the same”
OR
Add your own way of proving
the allegation false like “allegation that she was not given is denied because
she was on holiday/office/xyz place and it’s not possible to have not given her
food”
Strictly speaking a denial
may be enough and that’s what most lawyers also suggest. The only problem I have seen with this
deny-only-because-Iam-innocent-anyway approach is that matrimonial cases are
fought based mainly on allegations and very little substance by way of
documents, recordings, messages etc.
Interim orders are given routinely based on so called ‘force’ of
allegations made by wives. That is how
the situation has come about that it has become more about how to survive and
play in a drama. But the main advantage
of giving arguments and pointing out contradictions and inconsistencies within
OP’s petition/complaint is that it tends to put the OP/advocate on backfoot
since for too long the wife’s side and advocates have been acting like they are
‘players’ with an exaggerated sense of entitlement and overconfident attitude
in courts. A strongly worded and
logically explained WS immediately punctures their confidence by 50% at least,
and mostly it is being seen that they are actually even reluctant to come for
evidence stage after that.
Another
very important thing that is being seen is that after filing a strong WS, many
judges are asking for complainant to move to evidence stage directly without
considering her interim application for maintenance etc. That is a huge win since it means now they
can get relief only after full judicial trial of evidence, cross-exam etc,
which the OP side are most reluctant to engage in since their goal usually is
not to get quick trial and justice for their allegations but to get interim
maintenance and then sit and relax.
3)
Is it required or advisable to include any
precedence/judgement regarding maintenance/costs/alimony/support in the case
where wife is working/educated/able to work?
Though citing judgments is
normally done while doing arguments on interim applications or for final
arguments on main petition/complaint, putting a few citations may not
harm. But it should not be carried to an
extreme. Many people think that just
collecting judgments and citations will help their cause but if the judgment is
not matching facts of your case closely, it may only distract from the overall
case and arguments.
4)
Can we request dismissal of petition based on
jurisdiction too apart from the other statements and allegations?
A case cannot be filed
normally if jurisdiction does not exist in that court. This a basic point of law but somehow the
adhering to basic points of law has been pushed under the carpet in favour of
accepting any case which is submitted to a court, and let the proceedings
begin. Although many lawyers suggest to
file objections and raise jurisdictional simultaneously as a point, somehow it
seems totally against common legal sense.
If you start giving point by point reply to whole petition/complaint of
OP then in a way you are admitting that the petition/complaint is valid. An alternative approach can be to be ready
with written objections but at first make submissions and argue for case
dismissal itself since it is not maintainable due to jurisdiction. If that submission is overruled, then you can
file WS on next date itself.
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