[Cites 10, Cited by 0]
Bombay High Court
Humeshwari D/O Dattatraya Nipane vs Uma Wd/O Dattatraya Nipane on 18 February, 2026
2026:BHC-NAG:3165
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1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO. 1181 OF 2025
1. Humeshwari d/o Dattatraya Nipane APPLICANT
Aged about 40 years,
Occupation : Nil, R/o
Flat No.5, Kanhaiya Arcade-2
Vyankatesh City-2, Near Swami
Samarth Mandir, Besa, Nagpur
// V E R S U S //
1. Uma wd/o Dattatraya Nipane, NON-APPLICANT
Aged about 65 years,
Occ- Nil, R/o, C/o Punyayi
Wrudhasram, Maharana Colony,
Near Abhay Nagar,
Rameshwari Ringh Road, Nagpur,
Presently residing at C/o Chetan
Kamble, Flat No.303, 3rd floor,
Maintry Apartment, Near LN Club
Restro, Besa Ghogli Road,
Ghogli-Nagpur (Urban)
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Mr. Chintan Tamhane, Advocate h/f Ms Radha Mishra, Advocate (appointed) for
the applicant.
Ms Gulafsha Ansari, Advocate for non-applicant.
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CORAM : URMILA JOSHI PHALKE, J.
DATED : 18.02.2026
ORAL JUDGMENT :
1. Heard.
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2. ADMIT. Taken up for final disposal with the consent
of learned counsel for the parties.
3. The present application is preferred by the applicant
under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
(for short, 'BNS') for quashing and setting aside the proceeding
filed under Sections 12, 18, 19, 20, 22 and 23 of the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (for short, 'the D.V.
Act') bearing Cri. MA No.2809/2025 pending before learned 23 rd
Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Nagpur.
4. The brief facts which are necessary for the disposal of
the present application are as under:-
Applicant is the real daughter of the non-applicant
and applicant has lost her father and non-applicant is rested on
leading her life on the pension which she derived on the death of
her husband. As per the allegations in application filed by the
non-applicant in Criminal MA No.2809/2025 before Special Court,
Nagpur that present applicant is the real daughter of non-
applicant and applicant is having good qualification i.e. MSc
Biotechnology and getting handsome income therefrom and
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separately residing on the above mentioned address. Initially she
was residing along with present non-applicant and was harassing
her on various reasons as well as abusing her and assaulting her.
Regarding abuses and assaults she has filed various complaints
with the police on the basis of which NCRreports are lodged
against present applicants. Thus, it was contended that present
applicant always in habit to pick up the quarrels with the family
members like brother and sister without any reason and also
harassing the mother, who is 65 years old i.e. non-applicant. Due
to harassing at the hands of present applicant, she approached to
the Court with the application for getting the protection orders
from the Court.
5. Trial Court has taken cognizance of the said
application and issued the summons against the present applicant
therefore, she approached to this Court with contention that
initially she was living in Mumbai and Bangalore sometimes for
work and used to live in Nagpur occasionally. Her father has flat
at Besa Nagpur and one home at Bhandara. Therefore, whenever
applicant came to Nagpur from Mumbai she used to stay at her
own house at Nagpur alongwith the brother. But her brother has
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objected her stay in the said house and used to beat her.
Therefore, she has approached to the Police Station and lodged
various complaints. She further alleged that present non-
applicant also used to raise quarrel with her, assaulted her and
abused her. Due to the ill treatment and harassment at the hands
of the present non-applicant, she constrained to leave the house
and she is residing in different house. Thus, there is harassment
and domestic violence at the hands of the present non-applicant
only. As far as allegation in the application is concerned, she
contended that on the basis of the general omnibus and vague
allegations the application is filed and therefore, the entire
proceeding deserves to be quashed.
6. Heard learned counsel for the applicant she reiterated
the said contentions and submitted that in view of the definition
of domestic violence when any person harms or injures or
endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether
mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and
includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and
emotional abuse then the domestic violence is made out. As far as
the application filed by the non-applicant is concerned wherein
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nowhere it is specifically stated that she was assaulted or abused
by the present applicant and therefore, on the basis of vague,
general and omnibus allegations this FIR came to be filed and on
that ground itself the application deserves to be dismissed and
therefore, it is required to be quashed.
7. Per contra learned counsel for the non-applicant
submitted that non-applicant is old lady of 65 years. Present
applicant used to abuse her and therefore she has already lodged
complaint with the police on the basis of which NCR report is
already registered against the present applicant on 20.08.2023
regarding the incident dated 13.08.2023 which sufficiently shows
that present non-applicant was subjected for the ill treatment or
domestic violence at the hands of the present applicant. She has
also invited my attention towards the earlier NCR which came to
be filed against the present applicant on the basis of the report
lodged by non-applicant on dated 22.11.2023. Thus, she
submitted that two incidents are sufficient to show that there
was domestic violence at the hands of the present applicant and
therefore, prima-face case is made out against the present
applicant. In view of that the application deserves to be rejected.
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8. On hearing both the sides and on perusal of the entire
record it reveals that applicant as well as non-applicant both
have filed criminal complaints against each other and similar types
of the allegations are levelled against each other. It is apparent
from the record that present applicant has also filed complaint
against non-applicant as well as her brother on the basis of which
NCRs are registered against the non-applicant and son of non-
applicant. At the same time on the basis of the complaint lodged
by non-applicant the NCRs are registered against the present
applicant also. Thus, it reveals that the relationship between the
applicant and non-applicant, who are the mother and daughter
appears to be strange. For the purpose of constituting domestic
violence if requires to be taken into consideration, the definition
of Domestic Violence given under Section 3 of Protection of
Women From Domestic Violence Act of 2005, which reads as
under:-
--For the purposes of this Act, any act, omission or
commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic
violence in case it-- (a) harms or injures or endangers the health,
safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the
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aggrieved person or tends to do so and includes causing physical
abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic
abuse; or (b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved
person with a view to coerce her or any other person related to
her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property
or valuable security; or (c) has the effect of threatening the
aggrieved person or any person related to her by any conduct
mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or (d) otherwise injures or
causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person.
Explanation I.--For the purposes of this section,-- (i) "physical
abuse" means any act or conduct which is of such a nature as to
cause bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb, or health or
impair the health or development of the aggrieved person and
includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force; (ii)
"sexual abuse" includes any conduct of a sexual nature that
abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of
woman; (iii) "verbal and emotional abuse" includes-- (a) insults,
ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule specially
with regard to not having a child or a male child; and (b) repeated
threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the
aggrieved person is interested; (iv) "economic abuse" includes--
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(a) deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to
which the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom
whether payable under an order of a court or otherwise or which
the aggrieved person requires out of necessity including, but not
limited 4 to, house hold necessities for the aggrieved person and
her children, if any, stridhan, property, jointly or separately owned
by the aggrieved person, payment of rental related to the shared
house hold and maintenance; (b) disposal of household effects,
any alienation of assets whether movable or immovable,
valuables, shares, securities, bonds and the like or other property
in which the aggrieved person has an interest or is entitled to use
by virtue of the domestic relationship or which may be reasonably
required by the aggrieved person or her children or her stridhan
or any other property jointly or separately held by the aggrieved
person; and (c) prohibition or restriction to continued access to
resources or facilities which the aggrieved person is entitled to use
or enjoy by virtue of the domestic relationship including access to
the shared household.
Explanation II.--For the purpose of determining whether
any act, omission, commission or conduct of the respondent
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constitutes "domestic violence" under this section, the overall facts
and circumstances of the case shall be taken into consideration.
9. Thus, the clause defines the expression domestic
violence means any act omission or commission or conduct of the
respondent shall amount to domestic violence in certain
circumstances. It includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse,
verbal abuse and emotional, economic abuse, which are also
explained in the clause. In determining whether any act omission,
commission or conduct of the respondent constitute domestic
violence the overall facts and circumstances of the case shall be a
guiding factor. Section 3 of the Act defines domestic violence. It
is clear that such violence is gender neutral. It is also clear that
physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse and economic
abuse can all be by woman against another woman. Even sexual
abuse may in a given facts circumstances (b) by women on
another. Section (3) therefore in tune with the general object of
the act seeks to outlog domestic violence of any kind against the
women and it gender and neutral. When one goes to the
remedies that the act provides things becomes unclear Section
17(2) of the Act makes it clear that the aggrieved person cannot
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not be evicted or excluded from the shared household or any part
of it by the respondent save in accordance with the procedure
established by law. If respondent is to be read as a only adult
men person, it is clear that women who evict or exclude the
aggrieved person or are not within its coverage and if that is so
the object of the act can very easily be defeated by adult men
person not standing in the forefront but putting forward female
persons who can therefore, evict or exclude the aggrieved person
from the share household. Thus, in the definition of the
respondent the non-applicant is also included.
10. Now coming to the allegations levelled against the
present applicant admittedly the non-applicant has filed the
complaint wherein she has specifically stated that on various
occasions the present applicant subjected her for the abuses as
well as for physical assault also. While considering the definition
under the Domestic Violence Act when any act or omission on the
part of the respondent harms, or injures or endangers the health,
safety, life, limb or well being of that person that is said to have
committed domestic violence. The NC report which is lodged by
the non-applicant before the police sufficiently shows that the
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allegation levelled against the present applicant is that she has
assaulted the non-applicant, not only assaulted but abused her
also. The allegations in the NCR report dated 29.08.25
regarding the NCR report dated 28.06.2025 specifically regarding
the incident dated 28.06.2025 shows that there was allegation
of manhandling abuses against the present applicant. There was
previous complaint also and on the basis of the previous complaint
one NCR was registered against the present applicant. At this
stage these allegations are sufficient to show that the relationship
between the applicant and non-applicant who are mother and
daughter are strange. Against each other they have filed complaint
claiming that they have assaulted abused each other. The non-
applicant is 65 years old women to whom the allegations levelled
by her are sufficient to infer that there was harm and injury or
endanger to her health safety life and limb and therefore,
allegation of domestic violence is substantiated by the complaint
registered by the non-applicant and therefore, prima-facie case is
made out against the present applicant. At this stage, it would not
be proper to exercise the jurisdiction under Section 482 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure to quash the said complaint. In view
of that the application deserves to be rejected.
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12. Accordingly, I proceed to pass following order:-
The criminal application is rejected.
13. The fees of the appointed counsel be quantified as per
Rules.
Criminal Application stands disposed of .
( URMILA JOSHI PHALKE, J.)
manisha
Signed by: Mrs. Manisha Shewale
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 24/02/2026 11:10:11
