The Supreme Court is appalled by the working of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and questioned the Centre on the overwhelming number of cases under the law. The apex court on Friday ordered a meeting of Union secretaries of finance, home and child and women development departments with the principal secretaries of all states as over 4.7 lakh domestic violence-related cases are pending across 801 districts in the country.
The bench also noted that under the commission, just one protection is deployed for every district which means each of these officers will be responsible for over 600 cases. The court further stated that in such circumstances, it is impossible for one officer to manage domestic violence cases, TOI reported.
“This is especially so when the protection officers are mandated to discharge an intense duty, including conducting frequent on-the-sport surveys and inspections to assist the courts, they being the interphase between the victim, police and the judicial process,” the SC said.
The court also said that it is necessary for the Centre to step in and take initiatives to ensure the best implementation of the Domestic Violence Act.
The meetings of the secretaries from the Union and state governments would also be attended by the chairperson of the National Commission for Women and a nominee of the National Legal Services Authority chairman. The court also defined a timeline for this process and said that these meetings should be conducted within three weeks and must focus on the loopholes on the system’s part.
The court also asked the stakeholders to ponder if additional protection officers and one-stop centres for victims of domestic violence could be opened to help the victims of domestic violence better.The SC also directed the ministry of women and child development to file a status report on the implementation of the ‘Mission Shakti’, the Integrated Women Empowerment Programme.
