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9 Apr 2022 10:35am

supreme-court-protection-officers-are-backbone-of-dv-act

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court ruled that the Centre Government and States share responsibility for ensuring that the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act 2005 are implemented.

Protection Officers, like Magistrates, are the backbone of the legal system, according to Justice UU Lalit, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, and Justice PS Narsimha's three-judge bench.

The Court examined the Counter-Affidavit filed by the Centre in the matter and found that the situation in some, if not all, states is far from satisfactory. The Court noted that many states have designated Revenue Officers or Members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) as "Protection Officers," which clearly was not the intention of the legislators because such revenue or administrative officials will be unable to devote time to the fairly intense work required as well as expected of Protection Officers.

The number of Districts and geographical dispersion in some states is large, but the number of Officers actually provided is disproportionately small in comparison to the geographical dispersion and vastness of the state, according to the Court.

Given the facts, the Court demanded a response from the Centre in the form of an affidavit on the following points:

a. The nature of Central Programmes/Plans outlining assistances to support the efforts under the DV Act by various States, including the extent of funding, conditions of governing financial support and the control mechanisms in place.

b. To collect State-wise relevant data of litigation under the DV Act with respect to the complaints made, number of Courts, and, the relative number of Protection Officers.

c. To indicate broadly what are the desirable qualifications and eligible terms for creation of regular cadre of Protection Officers as well as the nature of their Training and other standards.

d. The desirable cadre structure and career progression for the Protection Officers.

e. The Union shall also indicate the model terms and conditions for such Protection Officers.

 

The Court has also urged the Centre Government to set aside funds for the enforcement of rights underneath the Domestic Violence Act of 2005.

Two weeks have been added to the time allotted for providing the information during this hearing.


Tagged: Domestic Violence Act of 2005 Supreme Court Justice S. Ravindra Bhat Justice UU Lalit Justice PS Narsimha
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