Marriage is a civil institution that does not need any intervention by the police to settle matters. It is highly optimistic on part of the government to assume that the police force, highly desensitised to matrimonial matters, will be able to solve matrimonial disputes when they see a golden chance to make money, by framing a false case against the husbands and in-laws and terrorising them to bow down to illegal demands.

Domestic Violence Act, 2005, on the other hand, is another such legal provision, which attracts a lot of females, exasperated with their expectations of a marriage or a live-in relationship, to file cases under various provisions and seek relief. Moreover, it makes it mandatory for a judge to pass relief under such an Act, as only the affidavit of the complainant woman is taken as evidence. So in short, ’allege and get relief’ is the mindset reflecting in the law. The concept of ‘matrimonial home’ is so badly drafted in it that going by pure literary sense, it qualifies any household where the couple stayed together as a matrimonial home, granting the complainant rights on it. It has started becoming a handy tool to evacuate senior citizens from the house of their own earnings.

Moreover, allowing the woman to put in allegations without signature is another factor that tempts the misuser of the law to intensify activities. Allowing the respondent to be convicted on sole testimony by the complainant of non-compliance of Protection Orders passed, as under Section 31, is directly violating Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which says, “The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” If that be so, how can sole testimony of one person be used to convict another person?

Moreover, the Act also allows multiple maintenance litigations to be admitted, as under Section 20 and 22, heard and maintenance be granted in tandem with maintenance provisions under Section 24, Hindu Marriage Act and 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This is direct violation of Article 20, clause 2, which says, “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.”

With such unconstitutional provisions, it is highly optimistic to assume that this Act can bring down domestic violence. It will rather increase it for any small provocation is enough for the woman to file a case under this act and make quick bucks. How can any sane government pass such unconstitutional laws open to wide misuse and allowing opportunities of legal extortion?

In addition to the above, in spite of international studies on domestic violence proving beyond doubt that both men and women are equally prone to be victims of domestic violence, which means the possibility of females perpetrating domestic violence cannot be ruled out. Yet, there is no provision in the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 for men to make complaints or to make a complaint against a woman. So a man/woman facing domestic violence at the hands of another female have no redress to his/her concerns and will continue to suffer. Such legal provisions lacking completeness, gender equality and compliance with the Constitution should be banned outright as they do more harm than intended.

Marriage is a cart to be borne by two wheels. Making one wheel heavily empowered at the cost of other wheel will never ever ensure its safety, rather prove detrimental to it. The current marital laws as present only give an opportunity to end a marriage with only bitterness being spread between the parties and allowing third party agencies make bucks out of it.