Domestic Violence, Corruption, Cyber, Consumer and Motor Accident Laws — Judicial Services

Weightage: These statutes appear in the Prelims of most states and in the Criminal Law and Civil Law papers as short-note and problem questions. Pecuniary limits, amounts and the commencement of recent Acts change, so this chapter marks them as reported and tells you to confirm them on the current text.

1. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

The Act gives civil remedies, in addition to criminal law, to a woman in a domestic relationship.

• Aggrieved person: a woman who is or has been in a domestic relationship with the respondent and alleges domestic violence. This includes a wife, a sister, a mother and a woman in a live-in relationship (relationship in the nature of marriage).
• Respondent: originally an adult male, but the Supreme Court struck down the words "adult male" in Hiral P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016), so women relatives can be respondents.
• Domestic violence (Section 3): physical, sexual, verbal and emotional, and economic abuse, including dowry harassment.
• Shared household (Section 2(s)): the right to reside is not confined to ownership. In Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja (2020), the Supreme Court overruled S. R. Batra and held that a household where the woman has lived in a domestic relationship is a shared household even if it belongs to relatives.

2. Reliefs and procedure under the DV Act

The aggrieved person, a Protection Officer or any person on her behalf applies to a Magistrate (Section 12).

• The Magistrate fixes the first hearing within three days and disposes of the case within sixty days (Section 12(4) and (5)).
• Interim and ex parte orders are allowed (Section 23).
• Breach of a protection order is an offence, cognizable and non-bailable, punishable with up to one year or a fine (Section 31).
• An appeal lies to the Court of Session within thirty days (Section 29).

This Act is separate from the criminal offence of cruelty (BNS 85, IPC 498A), and both may proceed.

3. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

The Act, as amended in 2018, deals with offences by public servants.

• Section 7: a public servant taking undue advantage (a bribe) for an official act, punishable with three to seven years and a fine.
• Section 8: giving a bribe to a public servant, up to seven years.
• Section 9: commercial organisations that fail to prevent bribery.
• Section 13: criminal misconduct, including dishonest misappropriation and possession of pecuniary resources disproportionate to known sources of income, with four to ten years.
• Section 17A (2018): prior approval of the competent authority is needed to inquire into decisions taken in the discharge of official functions, but not for an arrest on the spot on a charge of accepting a bribe.
• Section 19: previous sanction is needed to prosecute a public servant, and the Supreme Court has urged decisions within a set time, such as three months extendable by one month (Subramanian Swamy v. Manmohan Singh, 2012).
• Section 20: presumption that gratification was accepted as a motive or reward, once acceptance of gratification is proved.

Proof of demand: in Neeraj Dutta v. State (Government of NCT of Delhi) (2022), a Constitution Bench held that demand and acceptance can be proved by circumstantial evidence where direct evidence is unavailable. Mere recovery of money is not enough without proof of demand and acceptance (P. Satyanarayana Murthy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, 2015).

4. Information Technology Act, 2000

• Section 66A (offensive messages) was struck down in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015).
• Section 43 and Section 66: unauthorised access and damage to computers, and the dishonest or fraudulent doing of such acts, up to three years.
• Section 66C: identity theft. Section 66D: cheating by personation using a computer resource.
• Section 66E: violation of privacy by capturing private images. Section 66F: cyber terrorism.
• Section 67: publishing obscene material electronically. Section 67A: sexually explicit material. Section 67B: child sexual abuse material.
• Section 69 and 69A: interception and blocking with safeguards.
• Section 79: safe harbour for intermediaries, subject to due diligence.

Adjudication of civil liability under Section 43 is by an Adjudicating Officer, and appeals go to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. Cyber offences are also covered by the BNS, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is being brought into force in stages, so confirm its status.

5. Consumer Protection Act, 2019

A consumer buys goods or hires or avails of services for consideration, but not for resale or a commercial purpose, though self-employment for livelihood is not commercial in this sense. It also covers online transactions and e-commerce.

• Three tiers: District Commission, State Commission and National Commission. The pecuniary limits depend on the value of the goods or services paid as consideration, and were set by rules at roughly ₹50 lakh, ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore and above ₹2 crore. Confirm the current figures.
• Appeals: from the District to the State Commission within 45 days, and from the State to the National Commission within 30 days, and to the Supreme Court within 30 days.
• Limitation: two years from the cause of action (Section 69).
• Territorial jurisdiction: where the complainant resides or works for gain (Section 34).
• Central Consumer Protection Authority acts against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.
• Product liability and mediation are included.

Medical services are covered (Indian Medical Association v. V. P. Shantha, 1995). For medical negligence in criminal law, a doctor is liable only for gross negligence (Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab, 2005).

6. Motor accident claims

• Section 166, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: a claim for compensation before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, by the injured, the legal representatives or an agent. The 2019 amendment removed the six-month limitation, so no limit applies.
• Section 140: no-fault liability to pay a fixed sum on death or permanent disablement, without proof of fault.
• Section 161: hit-and-run compensation from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
• Third-party insurance is compulsory (Section 146), and the insurer is liable to the extent of the policy and the Act's limits.
• Computation: the multiplier method (Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009), future prospects added (National Insurance Co. v. Pranay Sethi, 2017), and heads for loss of estate and consortium.
• Contributory negligence reduces compensation by the claimant's share of fault.

7. A problem-answer pattern

A woman, living with her partner in a home owned by his parents, is beaten and told to leave. She applies to the Magistrate. Answer in four steps:

1. A live-in relationship in the nature of marriage is a domestic relationship, so she is an aggrieved person.
2. The house is a shared household even though the parents own it (Satish Chander Ahuja).
3. She may obtain a protection order and a residence order.
4. The respondents may include the partner and relatives, since the Act no longer limits respondents to adult males.

Common traps judicial exams set here

• Treating the DV Act as a criminal trial. It gives civil remedies by a Magistrate, with a criminal sanction only for breach.
• Convicting under the PC Act on mere recovery. Demand and acceptance must be proved.
• Using Section 66A. It was struck down in 2015.
• Counting consumer limits from the compensation claimed. The 2019 Act uses the value paid as consideration.
• Applying the old six-month limit to motor claims. It was removed in 2019.

Memory aids

• "18, 19, 20, 21, 22": protection, residence, monetary, custody, compensation.
• "7 bribe, 13 misconduct, 17A approval, 19 sanction": the PC Act numbers.
• "45, 30, 30": consumer appeal days.

Summary

The DV Act gives protection, residence, monetary, custody and compensation orders from a Magistrate, and covers live-in relationships. The PC Act, as amended, makes bribery and disproportionate assets offences, with prior approval for inquiry and sanction for prosecution.

The IT Act lists cyber offences after the fall of Section 66A, the Consumer Protection Act creates three tiers by value, and motor accident claims go to tribunals on the multiplier method with no-fault liability.

Exam protocol

• State the forum, the relief and the time limit for each Act.
• Prove demand and acceptance under the PC Act.
• Confirm monetary limits and recent commencements on the current text.