How will domestic violence be curbed, 4.7 lakh cases pending across the country, SC gave this order

The Supreme Court ordered a meeting within three weeks to plug the loopholes in implementation. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 aims to protect women from domestic violence and provide legal aid to the aggrieved women.

New Delhi: More than 4.7 lakh cases related to domestic violence are pending in 801 districts of the country. The Supreme Court took a tough stand on this on Friday. The apex court ordered a meeting of the Union Secretaries of Finance, Home and Child and Women's Development Departments along with the Chief Secretaries of all the states. The SC ordered this after the dismal performance in the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

A bench of Justice SR Bhat and Justice Dipankar Dutta said that there is a Protection Officer for each district. Each officer will have more than 600 cases, which is impossible for one person to manage. This is especially the case when Protection Officers are mandated to discharge an intensive duty, which includes frequent on-the-spot surveys and inspections to assist the courts, act as an interface between the victim, the police and the judicial process. are interfaces.

Government should provide relief and protection to the victims of domestic violence

The bench said, "In these circumstances, it would be necessary that the Central Government carefully consider all aspects of the implementation of the DV Act and provide relief and protection to the victims of domestic violence." A bench of Justices SR Bhat and Justice Dipankar Datta said that the chairperson of the National Commission for Women and a nominee of the chairperson of the National Legal Services Authority would also attend the meetings of the secretaries of the union and state governments.

Hold a meeting within three weeks

Accepting the suggestions of the Central Government through Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, the bench ordered a meeting within three weeks to plug the lacunae in implementation and decide whether additional provisions for victims of domestic violence should be made. There may or may not be security officers and one-stop centres.

Bhati suggested that states should come out with data on the number of cases assigned to each security officer. To collect information on the number of courts visited by each PO, the current number of POs in each district and whether there is a need to increase their number, estimate the required number of POs and their experience of states on the implementation of the DV Act 2005 is included.

The bench gave this instruction

The bench directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to file a status report on the implementation of the Integrated Women Empowerment Program 'Mission Shakti'. The court said that the ministry will try to give specific information about how many 'one-stop centers' are proposed in each district. How many are currently employed? Staffing pattern of such centers and actual staff requirement based on workload. All this should be on a common portal and dashboard.

What is Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act?

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is an act passed by the Parliament of India. Its purpose is to protect women from domestic violence and to provide legal aid to the victimized women. It came into force on 26 October 2006.