A Domestic Violence Act Order Has Been Passed: Appeal, Revision and Quashing in Delhi

What the Domestic Violence Act does and whom it covers

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 gives a woman quick civil remedies against people she lives or has lived with in a domestic relationship: a husband, a live-in partner in a relationship in the nature of marriage, or relatives such as in-laws. Domestic violence under Section 3 is wide. It covers physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse, including dowry demands and depriving a woman of money or a place to live.

Only a woman can file as the "aggrieved person". The respondent can be the husband or male partner, and after Hiral P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016), in which the Supreme Court struck down the words "adult male" from the definition, female relatives such as a mother-in-law or sister-in-law can also be respondents. A man cannot bring a DV Act case, though he can of course defend one. Daughters, mothers, sisters and widows living in a joint family can use the Act too, not only wives.

The proceedings are mainly civil in nature, though they are heard by a magistrate and governed by the criminal procedure code (now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita). No one goes to jail because a DV application is filed against them. The criminal element comes in only if a protection order is breached.

The sections that matter in an appeal or revision

Orders a magistrate can pass, and what each one means

• Protection order (Section 18). Stops the respondent from committing violence, contacting the woman, entering her workplace, operating joint bank accounts or alienating assets such as streedhan.
• Residence order (Section 19). Stops the respondent from dispossessing the woman from the shared household, directs him to stay away from it, or directs him to provide alternative accommodation or pay its rent. A male respondent can be directed to leave the household, but no such order can be passed against a woman respondent.
• Monetary relief (Section 20). Maintenance for the woman and children, medical expenses, loss of earnings, and loss caused by destruction of property. The magistrate can direct an employer or debtor of the respondent to pay directly.
• Custody order (Section 21). Temporary custody of children, with visitation arrangements for the respondent if safe.
• Compensation (Section 22). A lump sum for injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress.
• Interim and ex parte orders (Section 23). Any of the above, passed at an early stage on affidavit, before full evidence.

Which court hears a DV case, and where the appeal and revision go

Under Section 27 the case is filed before the Metropolitan Magistrate where the woman lives (permanently or temporarily), works or carries on business, where the respondent lives or works, or where the cause of action arose. In Delhi, DV applications are heard by Metropolitan Magistrates in the district court complexes at Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Saket, Rohini, Dwarka and Patiala House, often by courts designated as Mahila Courts. So a wife living with her parents in Rohini can file in Rohini even if the matrimonial home was in Gurugram.

The Section 29 appeal goes to the Sessions Court of the same district, where it is heard by an Additional Sessions Judge. The Delhi High Court does not hear the first appeal. After the Sessions Court decides, the aggrieved party can file a criminal revision in the Delhi High Court under Sections 438 and 442 of the BNSS (old Sections 397 and 401 CrPC). The revision is heard by a single judge.

A petition to quash the DV proceedings altogether goes to the Delhi High Court under Section 528 BNSS (old Section 482 CrPC), and in some cases a petition under Article 227. If the magistrate's court is in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida or Ghaziabad, the appeal goes to the Sessions Court there and the revision to the Punjab and Haryana or Allahabad High Court, not to Delhi. A request to move a DV case from one Delhi court to another is a transfer application, explained on our page on transfer of a matrimonial or criminal case.

The Section 29 appeal: 30 days and what can be challenged

Time runs from the date the order is served on you, or on the other side, whichever is later, not from the date it was passed. Apply for a certified copy at once and keep the copy application receipt. If you were present in court when the order was dictated, assume that time has started, because the other side will argue it has. A late appeal needs an application for condonation of delay with reasons for each period.

Final orders are plainly appealable. Interim orders under Section 23, particularly interim maintenance and interim residence orders, are also taken in appeal before Delhi's Sessions Courts in practice, because the Act speaks of "any order". Purely procedural directions, such as an order calling for a Domestic Incident Report or fixing a date, are not worth appealing.

The Sessions Court can confirm, modify or set aside the order, or send the case back. It does not automatically stay the order. If you want maintenance payments or a residence direction suspended while the appeal is pending, file a specific stay application. Sessions Courts commonly stay part of a maintenance order on condition that a portion is paid regularly. Our guide on how to challenge a Domestic Violence Act order walks through the appeal in more detail.

Revision and quashing in the Delhi High Court

A revision is not a second appeal. The High Court looks for an error of law, an order without jurisdiction, a finding with no evidence behind it, or a perverse result. It does not reweigh the evidence because one side thinks the Sessions Court got the facts wrong. If you used a revision in the Sessions Court instead of an appeal, Section 438(3) BNSS (old Section 397(3) CrPC) bars a second revision by the same party in the High Court, which leaves only Section 528 BNSS or Article 227. That is one reason to choose the Section 29 appeal correctly at the first stage.

Quashing the whole DV case is possible but uncommon. In Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi v. Vidhi Rawal (2025), the Supreme Court held that High Courts can exercise their inherent power under Section 482 CrPC, now Section 528 BNSS, over DV Act proceedings, but must do so with great caution because the Act is welfare legislation for women. Quashing usually succeeds only in clear cases: where the respondent was never in a domestic relationship with the woman, where relatives living in another city for years are named without a single specific allegation, where the case is barred by an earlier settlement, or where it is plainly an abuse of process.

Where a magistrate has refused the woman relief she is entitled to, the High Court can also be approached by her in revision. When Advocate B.K. Singh reads a DV revision file, he starts with the original Section 12 application and the Domestic Incident Report, because whether the allegations are specific or general against each respondent often decides how the High Court will view the case.

Residence orders and the shared household

The question "can she stay in my parents' house?" comes up in most DV appeals. In Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja (2020), the Supreme Court held that a shared household is the house where the woman lives or has lived in a domestic relationship, and it can be a house owned by the in-laws, not only one owned by the husband. This overruled the narrower view in S.R. Batra v. Taruna Batra (2007). In Prabha Tyagi v. Kamlesh Devi (2022), the Court added that a woman does not have to have actually lived in the house at the time of the violence to claim the right.

The right is to reside, not ownership. The in-laws remain owners and can, in proper proceedings, seek to recover possession; courts then balance the rights of both, and a magistrate can direct alternative accommodation instead of residence in the in-laws' house. Senior citizens who seek to evict a daughter-in-law through the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act cannot use that Act to defeat her DV residence right summarily, as the Supreme Court held in S. Vanitha v. Deputy Commissioner (2020), though their own claim to live in peace is also weighed. Our guide on whether a wife can claim the right to live in her in-laws' house explains this further.

For elderly parents-in-law living with a son and daughter-in-law in a Delhi flat they own, the practical answer is often an order that the couple live separately at the husband's cost, rather than a fight over the parents' home.

Maintenance under the DV Act alongside other cases

A wife may claim maintenance under Section 20 of the DV Act, under Section 144 BNSS (old Section 125 CrPC), under Section 24 or 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act and under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, often in different courts. She cannot be paid twice for the same need. In Rajnesh v. Neha (2020), the Supreme Court directed that both parties file affidavits of assets and liabilities in a set format, that maintenance awarded in one case be adjusted in another, and that earlier proceedings be disclosed.

Most DV maintenance appeals turn on income. Husbands who show a salary slip but leave out rental income, a business in a relative's name or cash deposits are caught out by bank statements. Wives who are working and conceal it face the same problem in reverse. The appeal court decides on the affidavits and documents, so getting those right in the trial court matters more than any argument later. Our page on maintenance revision in the Delhi High Court covers the Section 144 BNSS route, and the guide on interim maintenance explains how quickly it is decided.

Step by step: appealing or revising a DV Act order

The sequence is the same for the woman who was refused relief and for the respondent who wants an order set aside.

1. Get the order and note the service date

   Apply for a certified copy of the magistrate's order and write down the date it was served or received. Thirty days run from that date. Collect the full trial file: the Section 12 application, Domestic Incident Report, replies, affidavits and evidence.

2. Decide what to challenge

   Identify which parts of the order are wrong: the finding of domestic violence, the amount of maintenance, the residence direction, the inclusion of a particular relative. An appeal that challenges everything equally is less persuasive than one that targets the real errors.

3. File the Section 29 appeal in the Sessions Court

   The appeal is filed in the Sessions Court of the district where the magistrate sits, with the certified copy, grounds, a stay application if needed, and a condonation application if late. It is allotted to an Additional Sessions Judge.

4. Interim stay and compliance

   Until a stay is granted, comply with the order. A respondent who stops paying maintenance while the appeal is pending weakens his appeal and risks recovery proceedings. Ask for a partial stay on terms if the amount is beyond your means.

5. Hearing and decision in the Sessions Court

   The appeal is heard on the trial record. The court may decide finally, modify the amount, or remand. Many appeals are referred to mediation, and settlements covering the DV case, divorce and maintenance together are common.

6. Revision or quashing in the Delhi High Court

   If the Sessions Court's decision is wrong in law, a criminal revision is filed in the Delhi High Court. A petition under Section 528 BNSS is used where the proceedings as a whole are an abuse of process or have been settled. Both are heard by a single judge.

If the DV order is in your favour and is being disobeyed, the remedy is an execution application in the magistrate's court, and for breach of a protection order, a complaint under Section 31.

Time and cost at each stage

Documents for a DV appeal or revision

If you are the husband or a relative named in the case

Start with what is realistic. A finding that a wife was subjected to some form of domestic violence, which includes verbal and economic abuse, is not hard to reach on affidavits, so an appeal built only on denial seldom succeeds. Appeals by husbands do better when they focus on the quantum of maintenance with solid income proof, on a residence order that is unworkable, or on a finding unsupported by anything in the record.

Relatives stand on different footing. A married sister-in-law living in Pune, or an uncle who visited twice a year, named with no specific act attributed to them, has a real case to be dropped. The Delhi High Court has removed such relatives where the complaint contained only general statements. Elderly parents-in-law who lived in the same house are in a different position, and they should focus on what order is fair rather than on denying everything.

Do not disobey an order while you challenge it. Breach of a protection order is an offence, and unpaid maintenance is recovered with interest and costs. If a 498A FIR has also been registered, that case runs separately; our page on quashing a 498A FIR explains the criminal side.

If you are the woman who was refused relief or is not being paid

A woman who received nothing, or very little, can appeal on the same Section 29 route. Common grounds are a magistrate accepting the husband's declared salary without looking at bank statements, refusing a residence order on the ground that the house belongs to the in-laws (contrary to Satish Chander Ahuja), or dismissing the case for delay despite Kamatchi.

If an order is in your favour but is not being followed, file for execution in the magistrate's court. Monetary relief can be recovered by attachment of salary or bank accounts, and the court can direct the husband's employer to pay you directly under Section 20(6). For breach of a protection order, file a complaint under Section 31; it is a criminal offence. The Protection Officer of your district can help with the Domestic Incident Report and with service of orders.

Streedhan is separate from maintenance. A protection order can stop it from being sold or hidden, and a monetary order can cover its value, but you may also need a separate claim. Our guide on recovering streedhan after separation explains the options.

DV case, divorce, 498A and maintenance running together

Most couples who reach the DV Act stage have two to five cases between them: a DV application, a Section 144 BNSS maintenance case, a divorce petition in the family court, a 498A FIR and perhaps a custody petition. They are heard by different courts, often in different complex buildings in Delhi. Orders in one affect the others, and inconsistent statements in different affidavits are the most common reason for losing credibility.

Section 26 of the DV Act lets the same reliefs be sought in a pending divorce or civil case, so where a divorce case is already running in a Delhi family court, it can sometimes be sensible to ask for residence or protection there rather than open another front. Our page on Delhi's family courts explains where those cases sit.

Settlement usually covers everything at once: a one-time alimony amount, return of streedhan, withdrawal of the DV case, mutual consent divorce and quashing of the 498A FIR on settlement. Courts encourage this. A settlement should be written carefully, with each case listed, payments tied to each step and a clear schedule, because a half-implemented settlement leaves both sides worse off.

Mistakes that hurt DV appeals

• Counting 30 days from the wrong date. Time runs from service of the order, but treating the date of dictation in open court as day one is safer.
• Stopping payment after filing an appeal. No stay, no right to stop paying. Arrears accumulate and the appeal court notices.
• Inconsistent income affidavits. One figure in the DV case and another in the divorce case is the fastest way to lose on maintenance.
• Choosing revision instead of appeal in the Sessions Court. It closes the door to a revision in the High Court.
• Seeking quashing when the real complaint is the amount. The High Court will not quash a DV case because the maintenance is high; that is for appeal or Section 25 modification.
• Ignoring Section 25. If income has genuinely fallen after the order, a modification application before the magistrate is often quicker than an appeal.

What to do this week

Get the certified copy of the order and write down the date it reached you. Collect income papers for both sides and the property documents of the house in question. If you are paying maintenance, keep paying and keep the bank receipts. If you are the woman and payments have stopped, note each missed month. Read the original application again and mark the allegations against each person by name.

Fees are discussed at the first meeting and agreed in writing, stage by stage. For advice on your DV Act order and papers, or for updates on how the Delhi courts are deciding these cases, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.