NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka on Monday acknowledged a past error he made as a Bombay High Court judge in a 2016 ruling concerning the interpretation of the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act). Admitting the mistake, he said that even judges are human and the process of learning continues throughout their careers.
Delivering a verdict on whether High Courts can exercise powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to quash proceedings under Section 12(1) of the DV Act, Justice Oka, writing for a bench also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, affirmed that such jurisdiction does exist. He candidly admitted, however, that in 2016 he had ruled otherwise.
“Before we part with this judgment, we must mention that one of us (Justice Oka) was a party to a judgment dated October 27, 2016, by the Bombay High Court in which it was held that Section 482 CrPC cannot be invoked to quash proceedings under Section 12(1) of the DV Act. That view has since been overruled by a full bench of the same court,” the judgment stated.
“As judges, we are duty-bound to correct our mistakes in properly constituted proceedings. Even for judges, the learning process always continues,” Justice Oka said.
The court emphasized that the Domestic Violence Act is a welfare legislation aimed at protecting women, and hence, High Courts must exercise restraint when asked to quash DV Act proceedings. Intervention under Section 482 should be limited to cases involving clear illegality or abuse of process, the bench added.
Justice Oka noted that some earlier judgments denying CrPC jurisdiction were based on the view that proceedings under Section 12(1) were civil in nature. “That view is not correct,” he stated, underscoring the need for a more nuanced approach that upholds the intent and objectives of the 2005 law.
