Delhi Court Sets Example, After Speedy Hearing Of Domestic Violence Case, Sends Judgement On WhatsApp

In a first in the city, and perhaps in the country, a Delhi court¡¯s order set an example for speeding up the otherwise cumbersome legal process. While hearing a case of domestic violence, not only did the court pass an ex-parte order restraining the husband and his relatives from forcibly taking custody of his minor daughter from his estranged wife, but also directed that its order be communicated to them through WhatsApp.

Metropolitan Magistrate (Mahila Court) Neha passed the order after hearing the woman¡¯s counsel, Poonam Mendiratta. ¡°Respondents are restrained from forcibly taking custody of the child from the complainant without taking appropriate orders from the competent court,¡± the court ordered. ¡°Complainant is also directed to send the copy of an order to all respondents through WhatsApp.¡±

The surprising order on the use of WhatsApp came after the woman pleaded in court that she married the respondent in 2006 and claimed that the relatives of her husband, who currently stays abroad, tortured, harassed and treated her cruelly. ¡°She has never been given love, care or affection by the respondents who always treated her as a rank outsider to their family¡± the application said. It added that her sister-in-law forever connived with the mother-in-law to force her husband to throw the woman out of the house so that they could plan and get him married to another woman whose parents were financially better off and could provide a lot of money, jewellery and gifts as dowry.

Mendiratta alleged that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law used ¡°extremely derogatory words¡± and said her stay at home when her husband was abroad was unnecessary. They also reportedly made her life extremely traumatic and painful. ¡°The complainant was called a ¡®haramkhor¡¯, ¡®paagal¡¯, ¡®jaahil¡¯,¡± the application claimed.

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She continued to live in her matrimonial home till early 2017. However, as early as February or March 2017, the husband threatened her with a divorce on the ground that she had visited him abroad only twice in 2016 and staying there with him for a mere 20 days when he wanted her to stay on for a longer period. In the plea, the woman said that she never realised that the actual reason why her husband was threatening her and demanding a divorce was that he had already started having an affair with another woman.

The woman¡¯s lawyer said that after having faced continued ill-treatment, the wife decided to move out of her husband¡¯s house and eventually found alternative accommodation in 2017. The lawyer alleged that the husband forcibly took away the passports of his wife and daughter. ¡°The complainant has a grave and genuine threat that the husband will forcefully take custody of the minor daughter,¡± Mendiratta pointed out.