The Himachal Pradesh High Court has clarified that Section 31 of the Domestic Violence Act applies solely to breaches of protection orders intended to prevent acts of violence, and does not extend to violations of other orders like maintenance, compensation, or residence provisions.
Akshay Thakur filed a petition seeking to quash an FIR registered against him under Section 31 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The FIR was based on allegations of his failure to comply with court orders directing him to provide maintenance, compensation, and separate accommodation to his wife. The trial court, upon receiving his wife's application alleging non-compliance, instructed the police to register the FIR under Section 31 of the DV Act.
The Bench of Justice Rakesh Kainthla noted, “It is apparent from the bare perusal of Section 31 of the DV Act that it talks about the protection order and the interim protection order. It does not talk about monetary orders. It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Commr. of Customs v. Dilip Kumar & Co., (2018) 9 SCC 1: 2018 SCC OnLine SC 747 that when the words of the statute are clear and unambiguous, the Courts have to give meaning to them regardless of consequences.”
In Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd. v. Axis Bank Ltd. (2022), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the principle of literal interpretation as the foremost rule of statutory construction. The Court held that when the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it should be interpreted according to its literal meaning, and only in cases of ambiguity should other principles of interpretation be applied.
The High Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, Akshay Thakur, holding that the Magistrate erred in referring the application to the police under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC). The Court stated that the police could not have registered an FIR for breach of a monetary order under the Domestic Violence Act. As a result, the Court quashed the FIR registered on 7th January 2018 at Police Station Manali, District Kullu, and any consequential proceedings arising from it.
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