Legal remedy in property dispute cannot be sought in the guise of domestic violence

Madras High Court: Deciding the question that arose for consideration, the Court held that a complaint lodged under the Domestic Violence Act would amount to an abuse of process of law in case it is filed as a legal remedy to claim right over property. A Single Bench comprising of S. Vimala, J. quashed the impugned order D.V.O.P No. 10 of 2015 of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Dindigul as illegal relying on the contentions of the counsel for the petitioner that the complaint filed by the respondent was not maintainable as it did not disclose any act of domestic violence as contemplated under the said Act and the respondent was not residing in the property as a shared household but rather as a tenant .
The Court observed that a dispute regarding property rights needs to be resolved by a civil court and if it is given the colour of domestic violence, then it is a case of abuse of the process of law and it needs to be quashed. The Court further observed that instead of establishing the rights in the civil court if a complaint is filed under the Domestic Violence Act as an outcome of personal animosity, grudge and only to extract money then such complaint is not maintainable under the Act and has to be quashed. [B. Sakunthala v. Vasantha, 2016 SCC OnLine Mad 9109, decided on September 7, 2016]