Spending time and money for mother is not domestic violence: Mumbai court

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A local court in Mumbai has rejected a plea of a 43-year-old woman seeking action against her husband and his relatives under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and noted that husband's spending time and financial support to his mother does not constitute domestic violence.

"The grievance that the husband is giving time and money to his mother cannot be considered as domestic violence," additional sessions judge Ashish Ayachit said in his order on Tuesday.

Initially rejected by a magistrate's court in 2015, the woman, an assistant at the 'Mantralaya' (state secretariat), alleged in her complaint that her husband's frequent financial assistance and time spent with his mother led to conflicts in their marriage.

She also claimed ignorance about her mother-in-law's mental health condition prior to marriage, which increased tensions within the family, newswire PTI reported.

Dismissing the wife's assertions as "vague" and lacking "confidence of truthfulness", the court highlighted that the husband's support for his mother and the alleged mistreatment by in-laws did not meet the threshold for domestic violence, ultimately dismissing her appeal.

In addition to seeking relief under the DV Act, the woman had pursued compensation and maintenance for her daughter, who is now an adult, rendering her ineligible for maintenance claims on her behalf.

The court perused the facts of the case and noted that the couple, married in 1993, ended their marriage in 2014 on grounds of cruelty by the woman, with evidence indicating the husband's struggles, including suicide attempts during the marriage.

It added that as per evidence and other relevant pleadings, the husband had attempted to end his life two to three times during the marriage.

"Careful reading of the entire evidence of the applicant and respondent number 1 (husband), I am of the opinion that the applicant has miserably failed to prove that she was subjected to domestic violence," the judge said.

The court scrutinised the case details and concluded that the woman's claims lacked substantiation. It noted that the divorce was initiated by the husband following alleged cruelties by the woman, emphasising a lack of evidence supporting her domestic violence allegations.

The woman, in her complaint, had claimed that her husband stayed abroad for his job from September 1993 to December 2004 and used to send his mother Rs 10,000 every year besides spending money for his mother's eye operation.

The husband countered with accusations of financial impropriety, citing unauthorised withdrawals from his NRE (non-resident external) account to purchase a property.

Amid legal proceedings, the woman was granted interim maintenance of Rs 3,000 per month before the magistrate court dismissed her plea upon reviewing the evidence. (With inputs from PTI)