Legal aid clinic inaugurated
Special Correspondent
“Provisions of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 progressive”
“Act covers not only physical violence, but also violence of other sorts”
CHENNAI: The provisions in the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 are good. Those who intend to see that the law works have to make it work. Judges and presiding officers should understand, identify the problems and try to solve them, Justice Altamas Kabir, Judge, Supreme Court, said on Saturday.
Inaugurating the “Legal aid clinic for the victims of domestic violence”, of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority at the Women Lawyers Association here, he said the provisions in the law were progressive.
Today, a relationship which had never been legally recognised before was being recognised. Also, in the legislation, a provision had been made for a woman's right to reside in the marital home. It was a boon for women. The Act covered not only the question of physical violence, but also violence of other sorts.
Referring to the apprehension that there could be misuse of the provisions of the legislation, Mr. Justice Kabir said it was his personal view that no law was an exception to misuse. That had become a tendency. That did not mean the law should not be in place.
Chief Justice of the Madras High Court M.Y. Eqbal, who presided, said as defined in the Act, the legislation had an expanded meaning. It covered not only torture, but also any physical, s*xual or economic abuse. He explained that the Legal Aid Clinic for victims of domestic violence, which would be the first of its kind in the country, would be run by women lawyers.
Justice Elipe Dharma Rao, Judge, Madras High Court and Executive Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, Chennai, said the Act was an expression of concern at the escalation of violence against married women. Domestic violence was an intractable problem that appeared to be getting worse. Still, many women were willing to remain silent and suffered an abusive situation because they did not want to disrupt their children's lives.
He said harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands to a woman or her relatives also was covered by the Act. The law not only provided protection to women who were legally married, but also those who were in live-in relationship, women who were sisters, widows or mothers.
He said there were some protests that the Act could be misused to blackmail men. However, before one could jump to perverse conclusions, it was pertinent to note that the law said – any definition of domestic violence should detail the fact that it was a human rights violation.
Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, Judge, Madras High Court, said many women did not know how to get their grievances redressed. The legal aid clinic would help them.
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