Magistrate Can Modify Or Vacate Own Injunction Order Under DV Act To Prevent Injustice: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently ruled that a Magistrate entertaining a petition under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) has the power to review its order so as to rectify its mistake.In the criminal revision petition before Justice C. Pratheep Kumar, the petitioners had challenged the dismissal of an application to vacate an injunction order passed by the Magistrate under a wrong premise. While considering a petition under Section 12 of the DV Act, the Magistrate passed an injunction order restraining alienation of a property, which were actually owned by the revision petitioners, on the premise that it belonged to the respondents in the DV petition. Though the petitioners sought to vacate the injunction order, the Magistrate did not do so on the ground that there is no provision in the DV Act for declaration of title. It then directed the petitioners to approach a civil court. Aggrieved, they came before the High Court.The Court opined that the point for consideration was “Whether a Magistrate entertaining a petition under Section 12 of the DV Act has the power to review his order in order to rectify the mistake, if any, committed by the order passed by him?”It also looked in detail into a few case laws that dealt with the maxim Actus Curiae Neminem Gravabit, meaning no one shall be prejudiced by an act of the Court.Looking at the facts of the case, the Court remarked that the injunction order was suffered by the revision petitioners for no fault of their own and the same caused prejudice to their rightful enjoyment of property. It was also noted that the revision petitioners never asked for a declaration of title but only for vacating the injunction order.Therefore, the Court was of the opinion that the Magistrate had the duty to redress the grievance itself instead of asking the revision petitioners to approach another court.“Since the said order passed by the learned Magistrate has caused prejudice to the revision petitioners in their right to enjoy the property purchased by them for valid consideration, the same Court has a duty to set it right by vacating the order of injunction. Therefore, the learned Magistrate was not justified in directing the revision petitioners to approach the civil Court for a declaration of their title… The revision petitioners are really aggrieved by the order passed by the learned Magistrate…Therefore, it is the duty of the very same Court to redress the said grievance instead of directing the aggrieved party to approach another forum. If the learned Magistrate has the jurisdiction under the provisions of the D.V. Act to pass an injunction order, the Magistrate also has the power to vacate or modify the same if it causes prejudice to another.”Thus, the Court allowed the revision petition. It set aside the dismissal order of the Magistrate and allowed the application for vacating the injunction order.Case No: Crl.R.P. No. 555 of 2025Case Title: N.K. Prasannan and Anr. v. State of Kerala and Ors.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 216Counsel for the petitioners: S.K. Saji, Mayamol T.S., G.R. Manju, Sagith Kumar V.Counsel for the respondents: Binu Babukuttan, Vidhu M. Unnithan, Aromalunni M.S., Ratheesh C., Hari Sankar V., Nima Meriyam Koshy, Roshan Kurian RoyClick to Read/Download Order

Magistrate Can Modify Or Vacate Own Injunction Order Under DV Act To Prevent Injustice: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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