In short. To challenge a DV Act order, you file an appeal under Section 29 of the Domestic Violence Act in the Sessions Court within 30 days of being served with the magistrate's order. This applies to protection, residence, maintenance, custody and compensation orders, and to orders refusing relief. An appeal in Delhi usually takes six months to two years. After the Sessions Court decides, a revision lies to the Delhi High Court. Next step: get a certified copy of the order today and count the 30 days.
Is this your situation?
- A magistrate has ordered you to pay monthly maintenance under the DV Act and you believe the figure is far above your income.
- A residence order stops you, or your parents, from selling or entering a house you say your wife has no right to.
- You are the woman who applied, and the magistrate refused a residence order or gave maintenance you cannot live on.
- An ex parte interim order was passed against you without your knowing about the case.
- Your elderly parents, a married sister or a relative living in another city have been named as respondents.
- The Sessions Court has decided the appeal and you want to know whether the Delhi High Court can still help.
- Circumstances have changed since the order was made: you lost your job, she started earning, or the child moved.
Key points
- The first challenge is an appeal to the Sessions Court. Section 29 allows it within 30 days of service of the magistrate's order, and it is not filed in the High Court.
- Choose the remedy that fits the problem. A legal or factual error goes in appeal; a later change in circumstances goes back to the magistrate under Section 25.
- Comply while you challenge. Breach of a protection order is an offence under Section 31, and unpaid maintenance keeps growing whether or not an appeal is pending.
- The High Court comes in after the Sessions Court. A revision, a petition under Section 528 BNSS or a petition under Article 227 lies to the Delhi High Court, and each has limits.
- Quashing the whole case is rare. It succeeds mainly where there was never a domestic relationship or relatives are named with no specific allegation.
- A residence order protects a right to live in the house, not ownership. Challenges to residence orders turn on whether the house is a shared household and on alternate accommodation.
Which orders can you challenge, and who can challenge a DV Act order?
A woman who applies under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 can ask the magistrate for several kinds of relief. Section 18 gives protection orders, which stop the respondent from committing violence, contacting her or entering her workplace. Section 19 gives residence orders. Section 20 gives monetary relief, including maintenance and compensation for losses. Section 21 gives temporary custody of children, and Section 22 gives compensation for injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress. Section 23 lets the magistrate pass any of these as an interim or ex parte order.
Section 29 says an appeal lies to the Court of Session against 'the order made by the Magistrate', within 30 days from the date the order is served on the aggrieved person or the respondent, whichever is later. That wording is wide. It covers a final order after evidence, an order dismissing the application, and an order refusing a particular relief. Courts have generally read it to cover interim and ex parte orders under Section 23 as well, though some judges have treated purely procedural orders (adjournments, directions to file documents) as outside it.
Both sides can appeal. The respondent usually appeals against maintenance, a residence order or compensation. The woman appeals when relief is refused, when maintenance is too low to live on, or when a residence order is denied because the house belongs to her in-laws. Either side can also cross-appeal in the same Sessions Court, and the two appeals are normally heard together.
The provisions that matter when you challenge a DV Act order
Section 29, DV Act: appeal
Appeal to the Court of Session within 30 days from the date of service of the order, counting from the later of the dates on which it was served on the two sides. In Delhi it is heard by an Additional Sessions Judge of the district in which the magistrate sits. Delay can be condoned for sufficient cause, but the application must explain the delay with dates.
Section 25, DV Act: alteration, modification or revocation
A protection order stays in force until the woman applies for its discharge. Under Section 25(2), the magistrate can alter, modify or revoke any order under the Act on a change in circumstances, on the application of either party. This is the route for a later job loss, the woman's new employment, remarriage, or the children moving to the other parent.
Sections 438 to 442 and 528, BNSS
A criminal revision against the Sessions Court's appellate order lies to the Delhi High Court under Sections 438 and 442 BNSS (old Sections 397 and 401 CrPC). Section 438(3) bars a second revision by the same party after a revision in the Sessions Court. Section 528 BNSS (old Section 482 CrPC) preserves the High Court's inherent power to prevent abuse of process, which is used for quashing petitions.
Sections 27, 28 and 31, DV Act
Section 27 lets the woman file where she lives, works or carries on business, where the respondent lives, or where the cause of action arose. Section 28 applies the criminal procedure code (now the BNSS) to proceedings under the Act, while allowing the magistrate to lay down its own procedure. Section 31 makes breach of a protection order, or an interim protection order, an offence punishable with imprisonment up to one year, fine up to Rs 20,000, or both.
Appeal, modification or the High Court: choosing the right remedy
The most common mistake is going to the wrong forum. An order that misreads the evidence, ignores the respondent's real income, or grants a residence order over a house that was never a shared household is wrong in law or on facts, and goes in appeal under Section 29. An order that was right when made but no longer fits the facts belongs before the same magistrate under Section 25.
Going straight to the Delhi High Court without first appealing to the Sessions Court rarely works. The High Court will usually ask why the statutory appeal was not used, and dismiss the petition with liberty to appeal, by which time the 30 days may have run. The exception is a petition to quash the entire proceedings on a ground that goes to the root, such as no domestic relationship at all, which the High Court can hear under Section 528 BNSS; our page on DV Act cases in the Delhi High Court sets out when that route is open.
Some respondents file a criminal revision in the Sessions Court instead of a Section 29 appeal. That is a poor choice: an appeal allows a full re-examination of facts, while a revision does not, and Section 438(3) then bars a second revision by the same party in the High Court. Choosing the appeal correctly at the first stage keeps every later option open.
When Advocate B.K. Singh is asked to challenge a DV order, the first thing he checks is the date the order was served and whether it was passed ex parte. If the respondent was never served, an application to the magistrate to set the ex parte order aside, filed with proof of the address problem, is often quicker than an appeal, and it gets the respondent's affidavit on record before the merits are argued.
Challenging a residence order
A residence order under Section 19 can restrain the respondent from dispossessing the woman from the shared household, direct him to leave it, restrain him and his relatives from entering the part she uses, stop him from selling or mortgaging it, or direct him to pay rent for alternate accommodation. The proviso to Section 19(1) says no order directing removal from the house can be passed against a woman, so a mother-in-law cannot be ordered out.
The Supreme Court held in Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja (2020) that a shared household includes a house owned by the in-laws where the woman lived in a domestic relationship, overruling the narrower view in S.R. Batra v. Taruna Batra (2007). In Prabha Tyagi v. Kamlesh Devi (2022) it added that the woman need not have physically lived there at the time of the application, provided she had a domestic relationship. These rulings make a bare 'the house is my father's' defence weak. Our guide on whether a wife can live in her in-laws' house explains the right itself.
A residence order protects residence, not title. The in-laws remain owners, and Satish Chander Ahuja recognised that they can bring a civil suit about the property, in which the DV order is relevant evidence. Where the owners are senior citizens, the Delhi High Court has balanced the two rights, for example in Vinay Varma v. Kanika Pasricha (2019), by directing alternate accommodation for the daughter-in-law instead of leaving her in a house where conflict with elderly in-laws was constant. The Supreme Court in S. Vanitha v. Deputy Commissioner (2020) held that the Senior Citizens Act cannot be used to defeat a woman's DV right of residence summarily.
Grounds that succeed in appeal against a residence order include: the woman never lived in the house in a domestic relationship; the house belongs to a relative unconnected with the matrimonial home; the order directs removal of a woman respondent, which Section 19 forbids; or a reasonable offer of alternate accommodation was ignored. A woman appealing against refusal of a residence order relies on Satish Chander Ahuja and Prabha Tyagi, and on evidence that she lived in the house as a family member.
Challenging maintenance and compensation under the DV Act
Monetary relief under Section 20 is decided on the same principles as other maintenance claims: both incomes, reasonable needs, the standard of living in the marriage and the respondent's liabilities, with both sides filing an affidavit of assets under Rajnesh v. Neha (2020). Our guide on how maintenance is decided under Section 144 BNSS explains how courts work out the figure, and the guide on interim maintenance covers the first-stage order.
Appeals against DV maintenance succeed where the magistrate took gross salary as net, ignored a maintenance order already passed in another case, assessed income on guesswork without any document, or overlooked the woman's own salary on record. They fail where the respondent simply says the figure is too high, or where his bank statements show income he did not disclose.
Compensation under Section 22 is discretionary and fact-specific. A large lump sum ordered without any finding on the nature of the violence, or without reasons, is open to challenge. A woman can appeal if the magistrate found domestic violence proved but refused compensation without explaining why.
How to file a Section 29 DV Act appeal in Delhi, step by step
This is the usual sequence in the Sessions Courts at the Delhi district court complexes. Your lawyer will adjust it to the order and the stage.
Get the certified copy and count the days
Apply for the certified copy of the order the day you learn of it. Note the date of service on you and on the other side; the 30 days run from the later date. Do not assume the date of the order is the date of service.
Read the record, not just the order
Collect the Section 12 application, the Domestic Incident Report, both affidavits of assets, any evidence recorded and the order sheet. Most appeals are won or lost on what the magistrate had before it.
Draft grounds tied to the record
Each ground should point to a page: the salary slip the magistrate ignored, the address showing the respondent lived elsewhere, the earlier order not adjusted. General complaints about the woman's character do not help.
File the appeal with a stay application
File in the Sessions Court of the same district with the certified copy, the grounds, a vakalatnama and, if needed, an application for condonation of delay. Ask for a stay only on what really hurts, such as recovery of arrears or eviction.
Expect conditions on any stay
Sessions Courts in Delhi commonly stay recovery of maintenance arrears only on deposit of part of the arrears, and continue current maintenance. Protection orders are rarely stayed. Plan the money before the first hearing.
Argue and wait for the order
The appeal is decided on the record and arguments; fresh evidence is allowed only in limited cases. If the Sessions Court remands the matter, the magistrate decides it afresh within the directions given.
Decide on the High Court
If the appeal is decided against you on a point of law or a perverse finding, a revision lies to the Delhi High Court, generally within 90 days. Weigh it carefully; the High Court does not rehear facts.
Time limits, typical durations and court fees
| Stage | Time limit or typical time | Court fee (general) |
|---|---|---|
| Section 29 appeal to Sessions Court | Within 30 days of service of the order; decided in six months to two years | Nominal court fee stamp; check the current figure |
| Application for condonation of delay | With the appeal; decided at the first or second hearing | Nominal |
| Stay of recovery pending appeal | Considered at the first hearings, usually on conditions | None separately |
| Section 25 modification before the magistrate | Any time circumstances change; three months to a year | Nominal |
| Revision in the Delhi High Court | Generally within 90 days of the Sessions Court order; six months to two years | Nominal court fee; costs of certified copies |
| Section 528 BNSS quashing petition | No fixed limit, but delay counts against you; one to three years | Nominal court fee |
| Special leave petition to the Supreme Court | Within 90 days of the High Court order | Supreme Court court fee; check the current rate |
Papers to collect before you challenge a DV Act order
From the court record
- Certified copy of the impugned order and the order sheet
- The Section 12 application and any amendment
- Domestic Incident Report of the Protection Officer, if any
- Both affidavits of assets and liabilities
- Evidence affidavits and cross-examination, if recorded
- Proof of the date the order was served on you
From your own side
- Salary slips, ITRs and bank statements for at least a year
- Title documents or rent agreement of the house in question
- Proof of where each named relative actually lived, such as Aadhaar, rent deed, utility bills
- Copies of orders in any other case between you: Section 144 BNSS, HMA, 498A, custody
- Proof of payments already made to the woman or the children
- Any written offer of alternate accommodation and the reply
Which court hears the challenge, and why
DV Act applications in Delhi are heard by Metropolitan Magistrates, many of them designated Mahila Courts, in the district court complexes at Tis Hazari, Saket, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka and Patiala House. The Section 29 appeal goes to the Sessions Court of the same district, not to the family court and not to the High Court.
After the Sessions Court decides, the Delhi High Court at Sher Shah Road hears a criminal revision, a Section 528 BNSS petition or, in some cases, a petition under Article 227. A single judge on the criminal roster hears these. Our page on Domestic Violence Act appeals and revisions explains the High Court stage in more detail.
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 High Court or the Allahabad High Court, even if one party now lives in Delhi. Moving a DV case from one Delhi court to another is a transfer application, covered on our page on transfer of a matrimonial or criminal case. This is a private law firm website; official case status is on the courts' own websites.
When the Delhi High Court will quash DV proceedings
In Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi v. Vidhi Rawal (2025) the Supreme Court held that High Courts can use their inherent power under Section 482 CrPC, now Section 528 BNSS, over proceedings under Section 12 of the DV Act, but must do so with great caution because the Act is welfare legislation and the proceedings are largely civil in nature. Quashing is the exception.
It succeeds in narrow situations. The clearest is where there was never a domestic relationship: a brother-in-law who has lived in Bengaluru since before the marriage, or a married sister-in-law in her own matrimonial home, named with a single line of general allegation. Since Hiral P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016), women relatives can be respondents, so the question is not gender but whether there is a specific allegation and a domestic relationship.
Other grounds are an earlier settlement in which the woman gave up these claims and received payment, a final decision in another forum on the same reliefs, or a case so plainly filed to pressure the other side in a property dispute that continuing it would be an abuse. Delay alone is not enough: the Supreme Court held in Kamatchi v. Lakshmi Narayanan (2022) that the limitation in criminal procedure does not apply to a Section 12 application, only to prosecution for breach under Section 31.
Where a DV case is part of a wider settlement, the High Court can close it along with the FIR and the divorce. Our guide on quashing a 498A case after a divorce settlement explains how courts handle the package.
A made-up example: a residence order over a house in Paschim Vihar
Here's a made-up example. Ankit and Pooja lived for two years on the first floor of a house in Paschim Vihar owned by Ankit's father, a retired government officer, and his mother. After the marriage broke down, Pooja applied under the DV Act in the Mahila Court at Tis Hazari. The magistrate passed an interim order restraining all respondents from dispossessing her and from selling the house, and directed Rs 18,000 a month as interim maintenance. Ankit's married sister in Lucknow was also named.
Ankit's father had agreed to sell the house to fund his own medical treatment, and the sale stopped. The family appealed under Section 29 to the Sessions Court within 30 days of service. They did not argue that Pooja had no right at all, which would have failed after Satish Chander Ahuja. Instead they offered a rented two-room flat nearby, with Ankit paying the rent, and asked that the restraint on sale be lifted on that basis. They also showed, with her own Aadhaar and her husband's employment records, that the sister had lived in Lucknow throughout.
The Sessions Court, on these made-up facts, modified the order: the restraint on sale was lifted subject to Ankit paying rent for an equivalent flat for Pooja, and the sister was dropped for want of any specific allegation. Interim maintenance was left untouched because Ankit's salary slips supported it. Neither side got everything, which is the usual result of a well-targeted appeal.
Keep complying while the challenge is pending
Filing an appeal does not suspend the order. Unless the Sessions Court or the High Court grants a stay, the protection order, residence order and maintenance order remain fully in force. A respondent who stops paying or enters the woman's portion of the house after filing an appeal is in breach.
Breach of a protection order is an offence under Section 31, and the woman can file a complaint that leads to prosecution. Unpaid maintenance under the DV Act can be enforced through the criminal court's recovery procedure, including attachment and warrants. A respondent in arrears also finds that the appeal court asks him to deposit the arrears before it hears him on merits.
When Advocate B.K. Singh advises a respondent who intends to appeal, his practical advice is to keep paying the current amount by bank transfer with a clear narration, and keep every receipt. A respondent who has paid regularly and disputes only part of the figure is heard very differently from one who stopped paying on the day the order was made.
Mistakes that sink DV Act appeals
- Counting 30 days from the wrong date. The period runs from service, and the later of the two service dates; but filing early is always safer than arguing about the date later.
- Filing a revision instead of an appeal. It narrows what the Sessions Court can examine and blocks a later revision in the High Court.
- Attacking the woman instead of the order. Allegations about her character rarely help; specific errors in the order do.
- Asking for a stay of everything. A narrow stay request, such as on arrears or eviction only, has a far better chance.
- Ignoring the other cases. An income figure in the DV appeal that contradicts the HMA affidavit or the Section 144 case will be used against you.
- Waiting for the appeal to decide everything. If circumstances have changed, a Section 25 application can run alongside and may give quicker relief.
If you are the woman whose order is being challenged
Do not stop pursuing recovery of maintenance because an appeal has been filed. Unless there is a stay, the order is enforceable. If a stay application is listed, ask the court to make any stay conditional on deposit of arrears and continued payment of current maintenance, and ask for release of part of the deposit to you.
File a short reply pointing to the record: the respondent's own documents, the Domestic Incident Report, your affidavit. If he has filed an appeal on residence, be ready to say what alternate accommodation would be reasonable and why, because courts often look for a middle path. Your streedhan claim can run alongside; our guide on recovering streedhan after separation covers it.
If the respondent breaches a protection or residence order during the appeal, note the date, time and witnesses and complain to the Protection Officer and the police, then to the magistrate under Section 31. A record of breach made at the time is far more useful than a general allegation months later.
NRIs and respondents living outside Delhi
An NRI respondent can appeal through a lawyer in Delhi on a vakalatnama signed abroad and attested as the court requires. Sessions Courts and the Delhi High Court commonly allow appearance by video conference for arguments. Personal attendance is rarely needed in an appeal, though the court may call a party for mediation.
An NRI who ignores a DV case often finds out about it at the airport, when an ex parte maintenance order with large arrears has led to a recovery warrant or a Look Out Circular in a connected criminal case; our page on challenging a Look Out Circular explains that separate remedy. If you learn of an ex parte order, act within the 30 days for appeal, or apply to set it aside, rather than waiting for your next visit.
What to do this week
Apply for a certified copy of the order and note the date it was served on you and on the other side. Count 30 days from the later date, and plan to file well before it. Collect the court record listed above and the documents on your own side.
Decide whether your problem is an error in the order, which goes in appeal under Section 29, or a change since the order, which goes back to the magistrate under Section 25. If the order was passed without notice to you, consider setting it aside first. Keep complying with the order in the meantime.
If you want your papers read and the right remedy identified, or want updates on DV Act law in Delhi, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time limit to appeal a DV Act order?
Thirty days from the date the magistrate's order is served on the aggrieved woman or the respondent, whichever is later. If you miss it, file with an application explaining the delay; Sessions Courts can condone delay for sufficient cause.
Can I appeal an interim order under the DV Act?
Generally yes. Section 29 allows an appeal against any order of the magistrate, and courts have usually treated interim and ex parte orders under Section 23 as appealable. Purely procedural directions may not be.
Does filing an appeal stop me from paying maintenance?
No. The order stays in force unless the appeal court grants a stay. Stays on arrears are usually conditional on part deposit, and current maintenance is normally continued.
Can my parents be removed from a DV case?
They can if there is no specific allegation against them or no domestic relationship, for example if they never lived with the couple. A general line naming every relative is a common ground for dropping respondents, either in appeal or in the High Court.
Can a mother-in-law be ordered to leave her own house under the DV Act?
No. The proviso to Section 19(1) says no order directing removal from the house can be passed against a woman. Other residence orders, such as restraining dispossession of the daughter-in-law, can be passed against her.
Can I go directly to the Delhi High Court against a DV order?
Usually not. The statutory appeal under Section 29 lies to the Sessions Court, and the High Court expects it to be used first. A petition to quash the entire case on a ground going to the root can be filed directly.
Is there a limitation period for filing a DV complaint?
No fixed limitation applies to a Section 12 application, as the Supreme Court held in Kamatchi v. Lakshmi Narayanan (2022). Limitation applies only to prosecution for breach of a protection order under Section 31.
Can a DV case be withdrawn after settlement?
Yes. The woman can withdraw her application before the magistrate, or the High Court can close the proceedings as part of a wider settlement. The settlement terms should be recorded before the court so that they can be enforced.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, Delhi district courts and tribunals. This guide was written and reviewed by his team.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.
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