Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Centre and state government’s response on a plea demanding mandatory registration of FIRs in criminal complaints filed by women against their husbands in relation to physical violence and other offences instead of a ‘forced’ mediation process.
Issuing notices in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Police, Special Police Unit for Women and Children and the Delhi government to file their replies.
The plea moved by a group of women petitioners also sought a direction to authorities to modify the 2008 and 2019 standing orders issued by the Commissioner of Delhi Police, claiming they give disproportionate emphasis on reconciliation between husband and wife even in instances of severe physical violence.
The petitioners belong to a marginalised section of society with very limited support structures and means of survival, it was submitted, adding they have suffered severe physical violence at the hands of their husbands for several years and have failed to get any recourse from the authorities concerned.
After hearing the plea, the bench also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula posted it for further hearing on November 22.
“Failure of the authorities to take cognisance of these serious offences, despite the unwillingness of the women to reconcile, results in the perpetuation of violence against them and the continuing violation of their basic fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution,” the plea read.
During the course of the hearing, appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Rebecca John argued; “How can a woman, who has been a victim of physical violence by her husband, be asked to face her perpetrator by going to the Crime Against Women (CAW) Cell and be forced to reconcile.”
The standing orders have led to a situation where married women face severe forms of violence at the hands of husbands or in-laws and when they try to seek help from the police, they are asked to approach the CAW Cell for reconciliation or mediation and no FIR is registered and no criminal investigation is conducted on their complaints, the plea said.
“This is contrary to the settled position of law laid down by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari… wherein it was held that registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 if the information given by the complainant discloses commission of a cognisable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation,” it added.
The plea said the petitioners are mindful of the reasons behind implementing safeguards before registration of FIRs under Section 498-A of the IPC.
The purpose of the petition is to bring the court’s attention to the plight of women who are suffering such severe forms of violence and the “blanket assumption that they are agitating a false complaint”, making the criminal justice system inaccessible to them, it said.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Centre and state government’s response on a plea demanding mandatory registration of FIRs in criminal complaints filed by women against their husbands in relation to physical violence and other offences instead of a ‘forced’ mediation process.
Issuing notices in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Police, Special Police Unit for Women and Children and the Delhi government to file their replies.
The plea moved by a group of women petitioners also sought a direction to authorities to modify the 2008 and 2019 standing orders issued by the Commissioner of Delhi Police, claiming they give disproportionate emphasis on reconciliation between husband and wife even in instances of severe physical violence.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The petitioners belong to a marginalised section of society with very limited support structures and means of survival, it was submitted, adding they have suffered severe physical violence at the hands of their husbands for several years and have failed to get any recourse from the authorities concerned.
After hearing the plea, the bench also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula posted it for further hearing on November 22.
“Failure of the authorities to take cognisance of these serious offences, despite the unwillingness of the women to reconcile, results in the perpetuation of violence against them and the continuing violation of their basic fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution,” the plea read.
During the course of the hearing, appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Rebecca John argued; “How can a woman, who has been a victim of physical violence by her husband, be asked to face her perpetrator by going to the Crime Against Women (CAW) Cell and be forced to reconcile.”
The standing orders have led to a situation where married women face severe forms of violence at the hands of husbands or in-laws and when they try to seek help from the police, they are asked to approach the CAW Cell for reconciliation or mediation and no FIR is registered and no criminal investigation is conducted on their complaints, the plea said.
“This is contrary to the settled position of law laid down by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari… wherein it was held that registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 if the information given by the complainant discloses commission of a cognisable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation,” it added.
The plea said the petitioners are mindful of the reasons behind implementing safeguards before registration of FIRs under Section 498-A of the IPC.
The purpose of the petition is to bring the court’s attention to the plight of women who are suffering such severe forms of violence and the “blanket assumption that they are agitating a false complaint”, making the criminal justice system inaccessible to them, it said.
