A domestic violence civil complaint in India is filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 before the Judicial Magistrate or the Metropolitan Magistrate having jurisdiction. It is a civil proceeding for protection, not a criminal trial, and the reliefs it offers include a protection order, a residence order, monetary relief and compensation. The nearest thing in Indian law to a temporary restraining order is the interim protection order the Magistrate can pass under Section 18 read with Section 23, which may be granted at the first hearing and, in an urgent case, without notice to the other side.
A criminal complaint under the general penal law and a civil application under this Act are separate remedies and can be pursued at the same time. Neither replaces the other.
The Act is protective, not punitive
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was made to give a woman in a violent household immediate civil protection: an order restraining the violence, an order allowing her to remain in the shared household, and orders for money for her maintenance and for her children. It creates a right, and the Magistrate's task is to decide whether the right has been breached and what relief is needed, on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities.
That is why the language of the Act is about protection rather than punishment. A protection order is a command to cease a course of conduct; it is not a conviction. Breach of a protection order is a separate offence under the Act and can be prosecuted, but the making of the order itself is a civil act.
Domestic violence under the Act is wider than physical beating. It includes physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse, and economic abuse such as depriving a woman of financial resources, disposing of household assets or refusing to maintain her and the children. Emotional abuse covers humiliation, insults and threats, which is why the application must describe incidents with dates and words rather than in general terms.
Who can apply and against whom
The applicant is the aggrieved person: any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges that she has been subjected to domestic violence. A domestic relationship covers relations by blood, marriage or adoption, a relationship in the nature of marriage, and family members who have lived together in a shared household. A sister, a mother, a daughter, a live-in partner and a divorced wife who lived in the household can all be aggrieved persons.
The respondent must be a person who shares or shared that relationship. Since the Supreme Court struck down the words adult male person from the definition of respondent in 2016, a female relative can also be a respondent, but where a daughter-in-law, sister-in-law or other female relative is made a respondent, an adult male member of the family must be a respondent in the same complaint. An application against a female relative alone is not maintainable. The reasoning is set out in how the Domestic Violence Act works in Kolkata.
What goes into the application
An application under Section 12 is made to the Magistrate in the prescribed form and sets out the facts of the domestic relationship, the shared household, the incidents of violence, and the reliefs claimed. It should read like a chronological statement, not a list of adjectives. Each incident should carry a date, a place, what was said or done, and, where there was injury, the medical record.
Along with the application, the following carry weight: photographs of injuries, medical papers, any complaint previously made to the police, messages and call records where they show threats or abuse, and documentary proof of the shared household such as the rent agreement, electricity bill or ration card. Where an incident was reported to the police, a copy of the FIR or of the station diary entry helps to corroborate the date.
The application may be filed by the aggrieved woman herself, by a Protection Officer, by a registered voluntary organisation, or by any other person on her behalf with the leave of the Magistrate. Filing on her own behalf is entirely permissible. A step-by-step account of the complaint procedure sets out how the file is prepared and what happens at each hearing.
The interim protection order: the Indian restraining order
Section 18 of the Act empowers the Magistrate to pass a protection order prohibiting the respondent from committing any act of domestic violence, from aiding or abetting it, from entering the place of employment of the aggrieved woman, from attempting to communicate with her in a way that amounts to violence, from alienating assets used by both parties, and from causing violence to her relatives or others who assist her.
Section 23 allows the Magistrate, during the pendency of the proceeding, to grant an interim protection order or any other interim relief and, where the Magistrate is satisfied that the application discloses that the respondent is committing or has committed an act of domestic violence, or that there is a likelihood of it, and that the aggrieved woman may be put to hardship if relief is delayed, to proceed ex parte. In plain terms, the court can grant protection before the other side has been heard, on the strength of the application and its annexures.
This is the relief that corresponds to a temporary restraining order in other legal systems. It is interim, it lasts until the case is decided or is modified, and it is enforced through the Magistrate's contempt powers as well as through the offence of breach of a protection order. A copy of the order is served on the respondent, and a breach can be reported to the police or to the court.
Other reliefs the Magistrate can grant
| Relief | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Protection order | An order restraining further violence, communication, entry to the workplace and alienation of assets |
| Residence order | An order allowing the woman to remain in the shared household and restraining the respondent from evicting her |
| Monetary relief | Maintenance and compensation for expenses, loss of earnings, medical costs and for the children |
| Custody order | Interim custody of children, and directions on their maintenance |
| Compensation order | Compensation for mental torture and emotional distress caused by the violence |
The right to reside in the shared household, given by the Act, does not depend on the woman having any right, title or interest in the house. That is why a wife can obtain an order protecting her residence in her husband's family home even though the house stands in her father-in-law's name, and it is also why residence orders are among the most contested reliefs in these cases.
How the proceeding runs
- The application is presented to the Magistrate, who fixes the first date and may pass interim orders that day.
- The court directs service of notice on the respondent, and on the Protection Officer where the Act's reporting machinery is engaged. A Domestic Incident Report prepared by the Protection Officer is useful but is not a condition for filing.
- On the next date the respondent appears, files his reply or a written objection, and the matter is taken up for enquiry.
- Both sides lead evidence, and the Magistrate hears the parties and decides whether any act of domestic violence is proved.
- If it is proved, a protection order and whichever other reliefs are warranted are passed, and the order is served.
Interim orders, once made, can be varied or discharged on an application to the same Magistrate, so a protection order is not a permanent removal of anyone's rights. If a party disobeys an order, the other side applies to the same court for enforcement.
Where it is filed in Kolkata
An application is filed before the Judicial Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate having jurisdiction over the place where the aggrieved woman resides, or where the cause of action arose, or where the respondent resides. In the Kolkata metropolitan area the Metropolitan Magistrate's courts have jurisdiction, and the Protection Officer for the area can also help a woman to record her complaint and put the papers together.
A woman who cannot reach the court directly may first approach the Protection Officer or a voluntary organisation, and they can move the application on her behalf. Where there is also a police complaint about the same incidents, the two matters proceed in parallel and the orders in the civil application are not stayed merely because a criminal case is pending.
What to keep ready
- A written chronology of incidents, with dates, places and what was said or done at each.
- Medical records for injuries, and photographs of injuries taken soon after.
- Copies of any police complaint, FIR or station diary entry already made.
- Proof of the shared household: rent agreement, electricity or water bill, ration card or correspondence addressed to the house.
- Identity and address proof of the aggrieved woman and, where children are involved, their birth certificates.
- Any earlier order by a court on maintenance or custody, since a later application should not contradict it.
These cases are fact-heavy, and the outcome usually turns on the quality of the evidence rather than on the length of the application. A complaint written in anger, without dates, is harder to sustain at the enquiry stage than a short but specific one. If there is an immediate risk of harm, the police should be contacted first; the civil application is the follow-up that secures long-term protection. For advice on how a particular application should be framed, a free consultation is available.