HC: Courts must ‘read between the lines’ in domestic violence cases

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that courts are “required to read between the lines” in domestic violence cases, while assessing complaints, as acts of abuse “more often than not, are carried out within four walls,” making it extremely difficult for victims to prove the conduct they were subjected to.

“It is, therefore, that in such cases, the standard of proof required is not as stringent. Trite to say that the courts are required to read between the lines, and after the preponderance of all possibilities, determine whether or not the allegations so made contain any substance or not,” Justice Kirti Singh observed, while upholding maintenance and accommodation relief to a wife and two daughters by a Gurugram court.

Clarifying the scope of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the court asserted the law “does not give a restrictive definition of domestic violence”, but “envisages an all-inclusive concept of abuse — be it physical, sexual, emotional, verbal and even economic abuse”. Section 3(a) expressly provides that “any harm, injury or endangerment of even the mental well-being of an aggrieved person would amount to domestic violence.”

On economic abuse, the court asserted: “The term includes deprivation of all or any economic/financial resources which the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom, whether payable under an order of the Court or otherwise, or which the aggrieved person requires out of necessity.”

Justice Kirti Singh added that monetary reliefs under Section 20 of the Act “can be ordered to be paid to an aggrieved person and any child, to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by that person, and includes the sum for maintenance of the aggrieved person as well as her children, which is to be adequate, fair, reasonable and consistent with the standard of living to which the aggrieved person is accustomed to”.