LEELAVATHI S Vs. MURGESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This matter is referred by the learned Single Judge to the Division Bench raising the following legal question.

(2.) In the opinion of the learned Single Judge, the reference of the matter to the Division Bench was necessitated as there were different opinions expressed by different High Courts with regard to the definition of the expression 'Respondent', particularly as regards the tenor and purport of the proviso to Section 2(q) of the Act, regarding the understanding of the expression 'Respondent' as defined under Section 2(q). The learned Single Judge has noticed a judgment rendered by another learned Single Judge of this Court in the case of Amruth Kumar and Anr. v. Smt. Chithra Shetty and Anr., 2010 1 KCCR 459, wherein it is held that the definition of the term 'Respondent' contained under Section 2(q) of the Act, will not include 'female relatives'. The learned Single Judge has expressed that this view expressed in Chitra's case requires consideration by the Division Bench, particularly in the light of the decisions of various other High Courts on the point.

(3.) It is necessary to notice the context in which the definition of the term 'Respondent' is incorporated in the Act under Section 2(q). The scheme of the Act provides a mechanism to protect women against violence of any kind occurring within the family. In the statement of objects and reasons appended to the enactment, after referring to Vienna Accord of 1994 and the Beijing Declaration of 1995, and the recommendation made by The United Nations Committee on Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recommending that the State parties should act to protect women against violence within the family, it is stated that though Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code makes it an offence where a woman is subjected to cruelty by her husband or his relative, the civil law does not however address this phenomenon in its entirety and hence, keeping in mind the right guaranteed under Articles 14, 15 & 21 of the Constitution of India, this law was proposed to be enacted.