The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (Act No. 43 of 2005) provides for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family. It gives an aggrieved woman civil remedies — protection orders, residence orders, monetary relief, custody orders and compensation orders — in addition to any criminal remedies otherwise available to her, and creates a machinery of Protection Officers, service providers, shelter homes and medical facilities to support her.
CHAPTER I — PRELIMINARY
CHAPTER II — DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
CHAPTER III — POWERS AND DUTIES OF PROTECTION OFFICERS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, ETC.
- Section 4 — Information to Protection Officer and exclusion of liability of informant
- Section 5 — Duties of police officers, service providers and Magistrate
- Section 6 — Duties of shelter homes
- Section 7 — Duties of medical facilities
- Section 8 — Appointment of Protection Officers
- Section 9 — Duties and functions of Protection Officers
- Section 10 — Service providers
- Section 11 — Duties of Government
CHAPTER IV — PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING ORDERS OF RELIEFS
- Section 12 — Application to Magistrate
- Section 13 — Service of notice
- Section 14 — Counselling
- Section 15 — Assistance of welfare expert
- Section 16 — Proceedings to be held in camera
- Section 17 — Right to reside in a shared household
- Section 18 — Protection orders
- Section 19 — Residence orders
- Section 20 — Monetary reliefs
- Section 21 — Custody orders
- Section 22 — Compensation orders
- Section 23 — Power to grant interim and ex parte orders
- Section 24 — Court to give copies of order free of cost
- Section 25 — Duration and alteration of orders
- Section 26 — Relief in other suits and legal proceedings
- Section 27 — Jurisdiction
- Section 28 — Procedure
- Section 29 — Appeal
CHAPTER V — MISCELLANEOUS
- Section 30 — Protection Officers and members of service providers to be public servants
- Section 31 — Penalty for breach of protection order by respondent
- Section 32 — Cognizance and proof
- Section 33 — Penalty for not discharging duty by Protection Officer
- Section 34 — Cognizance of offence committed by Protection Officer
- Section 35 — Protection of action taken in good faith
- Section 36 — Act not in derogation of any other law
- Section 37 — Power of Central Government to make rules
Note: The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (Act No. 43 of 2005) received the assent of the President on 13 September 2005 and was brought into force with effect from 26 October 2006, vide Notification No. S.O. 1776(E), dated 17 October 2006. The words “except the State of Jammu and Kashmir” in section 1(2) were omitted by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019), section 95 and the Fifth Schedule, with effect from 31 October 2019.
