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Synopsis

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on Thursday, through its advocate Gaurav Agrawal filed a comprehensive State-wise data regarding the pendency and disposal of cases relating to Domestic Violence Act, 2005. It also included a State-wise consolidated report on a comprehensive questionnaire, where the questions dealt with the structure of Protection Officers working to implement the DV Act, number of Districts that have Protection Officers, whether the functionaries are full time, whether the centres are directly run by the government or any NGO, among other questions.

For the background, in November 2021, We the Women of India (an NGO) approached the Supreme Court, where the infrastructure under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act throughout the country was brought under scrutiny. The hollows and holes in the systematic setup were questioned while pointing towards the rate at which the crimes were increasing despite the Act into force. Further, the situation was described as just the “tip of the iceberg” since many women hesitate and refrain from complaining and highlighting the matter.

As per the report, the Allahabad High Court has a total of 202880 Original cases registered under DV Act, out of which 83196 have been disposed as of 30th June 2022 whereas 119684 are pending. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cases registered, while Bombay High Court (Maharashtra) comes second with total institutions of 196717 Original cases, 115384 disposed and 84637 still pending cases. Kerala High Court (Kerala) comes third with 95267 Original cases, with 74129 disposed off and 21138 cases still pending.

In terms of Appeals/Revisions against order under DV Act, Allahabad High Court has 4438 institutions so far, with 2737 disposed and 1678 still pending cases. While Bombay High Court has a total of 17133 institutions, with 11601 disposed, and 6732 still pending cases. Kerala High Court has 6326 institutions so far, with 5261 disposed and 1065 still pending cases.

On the other hand, Gauhati High Court (Nagaland) has the lowest number of cases, with total 27 Original cases, 14 disposed and 13 still pending. And in Appeals/Revisions against order under DV Act, Nagaland has 0 institutions.

The report also consists of a detailed list pertaining to a Questionnaire, where a brief report of officers so appointed to carry out functions under the DV Act, facilities available in the districts, information of the controllers of the respective centres, if any have been provided.

For instance under the ‘Structure of Protection Officers working under the DV Act in the States/UTs’, in Andhra Pradesh-(1) Protection Officer, (2) Counselor, (3) RDO, (4) Home Guards have been appointed to carry out the functions. Secondly, Andhra Pradesh has a total of 22 districts with Protection Officers, while only in 18 there are full-time officers. Only 11 districts have a government shelter home for the victims while 12 districts have non-government shelter homes. Also, in the State there are 12 districts that have “One-stop centres” (OSC) for the victims under the State Government Scheme and 11 districts have OSC or similarly structured centres. The centres are managed by the-State Government in Andhra Pradesh. Further, there are 22 NGO’s functioning to help the victims. The list also has information on whether the OSCs record statements of the victims. Although the OSCs do record statements of the victims with a total 19854 so far, but there is 'no bifurcation of data with respect to the statements recorded in OSCs, Police Stations or otherwise'.

The NALSA report gives a detailed insight of the entire infrastructure available in each State while taking a count of each district.

 

CASE TITLE: We the Women of India vs. Union of India and Others