Nagpur, August 17: A man marrying for the second time after giving divorce to his first wife cannot be a case of domestic violence against the divorced first wife, observed the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court recently. The court made the observation while allowing a petition from a Jalgaon-based man and his family members against a notice issued by a lower court in connection with domestic violence case filed by his divorced first wife. Forcible Sex With Wife Cannot Be Considered Illegal, Says Mumbai Court; Grants Pre-Arrest Bail to Accused Husband.

"Merely because the husband performs a second marriage, it cannot come within the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act’s, 2005, definition," Justice Manish Pitale said. The couple got married on March 13, 2011. Following matrimonial dispute, the husband filed a divorce case against wife on the grounds of cruelty, according to a Times of India report. No Shower, Only Sex! Bengaluru Woman Approaches Police After Husband Has Refused to Bath During The Lockdown and Forces to Have Intercourse.

In 2014, the Akola Family Court granted him divorce and rejected his wife's application for restitution of conjugal rights. The woman's appeals in the High Court and later in the Supreme Court were dismissed. In the mean time, the man entered into wedlock for the second time. The woman then filed a domestic violence case against him and in-laws in the Akola court contending that his second marriage attracts provisions of the DV Act, the report added.

The Akola magistrate rejected the man's application seeking quashing of charges levelled under the DV Act and issued a notice to him and his family members. The Bombay High Court, however, noted that the woman had filed the domestic violence case after exhausting her legal options.

"The chronology of events indicates that she sought to invoke provisions after her divorce case attained finality up to the Supreme Court. It was not as if she initiated a proceeding during the matrimonial discord between the parties," Justice Pitale said. "She appeared to be interested in initiating and continuing such proceedings as a tool of harassment against the in-laws," he added.

The High Court quashed the Akola magistrate's notice, which rejected the petitioners' application for quashing of the DV Act proceedings filed by the wife. "As far as the husband’s second marriage after divorce is concerned, the wife’s contention that it amounted to domestic violence cannot be accepted," the judge said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2021 11:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).