Domestic Violence Act
The Supreme Court will examine the validity, with the help of central and state governments, of a decision of the Bombay high court that the Protection of Women from the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 can be used by a mother in law to initiate action against her daughter in law, reported The Hindustan Times.
The Bombay high court had in September 2015 held that the daughter in law can be prosecuted under the act after which she petitioned in the Supreme Court before the bench led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi which took cognizance of the matter and asked the Central as well as the Maharashtra governments to respond about their stand on the issue.
The petitioner has claimed in the case that as per the act a mother, sister or mother in law can only prosecute men and not women.
The next date of hearing of the matter in the Supreme Court is 17 February 2016 when the Attorney General’s office will also assist the court.
A Supreme Court of India judgment, while defining “Common Law Marriage”, cited as a source Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia anyone can edit. The same judgment on live-in relationships was also slammed by additional solicitor general Indira Jaisingh for using gender biased terms “one night stand” and “keep”.