The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that Section 498A IPC and Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 operate in different fields and serve distinct objects. The Court observed that acquittal under Section 498A IPC does not prohibit or restrict a complainant from filing a complaint under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act.

Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas was hearing a petition filed under Section 528 BNSS, challenging the registration of a complaint under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act before the Judicial Magistrate First Class. The complaint alleged that the husband was not taking care of his wife and subjected her to mental torture in connection with a demand for Rs.1 lakh and a motorcycle.

The petitioners submitted that, on the same set of allegations, the complainant had lodged an FIR under Section 498A IPC, in which the accused persons had been acquitted. They further submitted that the parties had obtained a divorce and that an application seeking custody of the child was pending before the Division Bench of the High Court. On this basis, they contended that the complaint under the Domestic Violence Act and issuance of notice amounted to an abuse of the process of law and prayed for quashing of the complaint.

The Court noted that the contention before it was that, since the petitioners had already been acquitted in a case arising out of the same set of allegations, the subsequent filing of a complaint under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act was per se illegal.

The Court observed that Section 498A IPC and Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act operate in different fields and serve distinct objects. It noted that, while enacting the Domestic Violence Act, Parliament intended to provide more effective protection to the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family or matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Court further referred to Section 36 of the Act, which provides that its provisions are in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of any other law for the time being in force. Hence, the Court observed:

“… both the acts operate in different sphere, therefore the acquittal of the petitioner under Section 498A of the I.P.C. will not prohibit or restrict the complainant to file a complaint under Section 12 of the Act of 2005.”

Consequently, the Court dismissed the petition, observing that the learned Trial Court did not commit any illegality in taking cognizance of the complaint.

Case Title: Manoj Kurre & Ors. v. Smt. Sunita Kurre & Anr. [CRMP No. 1472 of 2025]

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