Magistrate has jurisdiction in DV case for US couple: Bombay HC

MUMBAI: Bombay high court (HC) rejected a man's challenge to a Panvel magistrate having jurisdiction in proceeding with a domestic violence case against him, as he said he and his wife were residing in the US. HC said the argument that alleged cruelty was not in India, hence the Indian court would have no jurisdiction, is not correct. It noted how various incidents of alleged domestic violence took place in India, including at Panvel. HC said Panvel is also her permanent address, and she is only temporarily in the US.Both work in MNCs and live in the USA, and so the Panvel court cannot have jurisdiction, argued the husband's lawyer, Prakash Naidu. Justice Madhav Jamdar, in his order earlier this month, observed, "In fact, incidents which took place in the USA have also started due to conversation with relatives in India, including her parents, who reside at Panvel."The husband challenged two orders. One was a March 2024 order of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panvel, and the other was passed last September by the Additional Sessions Judge, Panvel-Raigad, in appeal. Both orders dismissed his challenge to the local court's jurisdiction to proceed with his wife's domestic violence complaint. Besides, the complaint discloses no cruelty or domestic violence; hence, even on merits, there is no case, as all alleged incidents took place in the US.The wife's advocate, Vinay Nair, said the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, provides for a wide scope of jurisdiction under section 27, and place of permanent or temporary residence is also place of jurisdiction. Since her permanent address is Panvel, where she also alleged instances of domestic violence, the magistrate there has jurisdiction, he argued.The couple were married in October 2018 in south India and went to the USA, and they have a child born in 2022. The wife initially filed a domestic violence case in a Californian court but withdrew it and later, in Nov 2023, filed the case before the Panvel magistrate, whose jurisdiction the husband challenged in Mar 2024. HC's order enumerated various instances of alleged harassment that the wife complained of and said the Act gives jurisdiction to "the court of Judicial Magistrate of the first class or the Metropolitan Magistrate..."