S.12(5) DV Act | Disposal Of Domestic Violence Plea Within 60 Days Not Practical But Long Adjournments Must Be Avoided: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has said while it may not be practical for a Magistrate to decide Section 12(1) application under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, within statutory prescribed period of 60 days, however unnecessary and long adjournments should not be given to the parties.Under Section 12(1) an aggrieved person or a Protection Officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person may present an application to the Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs under the Act. Section 12(5) states that Magistrate shall Endeavour to dispose of every application made under Section 12 (1) within a period of 60 days from the date of its first hearing. Emphasizing the salutary object with which the enactment has been made, the Bench of Justice Savitri Ratho observed–“The D.V. Act has been enacted with the object of providing effective rights of protection to the women guaranteed under Article 15 of the Constitution of India, who are victim of any kind of violence within the family. The provision under Section 12(5) of the Act has been inserted with the intention for expeditious disposal of application filed under Section 12(1) of the D.V. Act.It may not be possible or practical to dispose of the application within 60 days, but endeavour should be made for expeditious disposal, without depriving any of the parties of effective hearing. If unnecessary or long adjournments are granted, to either party, the case will continue to linger".The petitioner-husband filed this application under Article 226 read with Article 227 of the Constitution seeking a direction to the JMFC, Bhubaneswar for disposing the application filed by the opposite party-wife under Section 12 of the PWDV Act within a period of 45 days by hearing it on a day-to-day basis, after giving opportunity of hearing to the parties.Though the said application was originally filed in the year 2022 before the trial Court, the case allegedly remained snail-paced disposal of which remains impending. In order to ascertain the reason for such delay, the Court requisitioned a status report from the Court in seisin over the matter. The Presiding Officer attributed the unreasonable delay to numerous petitions filed by the parties.The Court noted that except for two specific dates, every other adjournment was granted at the instance of the opposite party-wife. Therefore, it reminded the parties as well as the trial Court of the mandate under Section 12(5) of the PWDV Act which requires the Magistrate to put endeavour to dispose of every application made under Section 12(1) within a period of sixty days from the date of its first hearing.However, being cognizant of the ground realities, Justice Ratho remarked that it may not be “possible or practical” for the Magistrate to dispose of the application within the statutorily prescribed period of 60 days. Nevertheless, the Judge highlighted the important objective of the protection of women from domestic violence which shall guide the Magistrates to put in endeavour to dispose of the applications expeditiously, without conceding to the requests of unnecessary and long adjournments.“In view of the provision of Section 12(5) of the D.V. Act, the learned J.M.F.C., Bhubaneswar is requested to make endeavour to dispose of CMC No. 40 of 2022 within a period of six months from the date of production of certified copy of this order and for the said purpose unnecessary adjournments shall not be granted to the Parties,” the Court ordered.Case Title: SKS v. PSCase No: CRLMP No. 86 of 2026Date of Order: February 04, 2026Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Bibhu Prasad Mohanty, AdvocateCounsel for the Opposite Party: None [before notice matter]Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ori) 26Click Here To Read/Download Order

S.12(5) DV Act | Disposal Of Domestic Violence Plea Within 60 Days Not Practical But Long Adjournments Must Be Avoided: Orissa High Court

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