Telangana High Court clarifies on domestic violence
Deccan ChronicleHyderabad: The Telangana High Court clarified that a case under 498-A or an application under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act against the husband amounts to an abuse of process of law when the marriage between the parties has been declared as null and void. Justice Shameem Akther was dealing with a petition of retired Major Pankaj Rai, urging the court to quash an application under the Domestic Violence Act against him, and the two petitions by his second wife Krishnaveni Chenji, one challenging a trial court order which had acquitted Mr Rai in a Section 498-A case, and the other for application for maintenance. She left Mr Rai after 33 days of staying together and made a complaint against him under section 498-A of the IPC and under the Domestic Violence Act. The judge upheld the lower court’s orders and allowed the quashing of the petition asked for by Mr Rai, confirming that there was no marital relationship subsisting between the parties.