Section 2 DV Act: Definitions

Section 2 of Domestic Violence Act, 2005: Definitions

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) "aggrieved person" means any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent;

(b) "child" means any person below the age of eighteen years and includes any adopted, step or foster child;

(c) "compensation order" means an order granted in terms of section 22;

(d) "custody order" means an order granted in terms of section 21;

(e) "domestic incident report" means a report made in the prescribed form on receipt of a complaint of domestic violence from an aggrieved person;

(f) "domestic relationship" means a relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity, marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family;

(g) "domestic violence" has the same meaning as assigned to it in section 3;

(h) "dowry" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961);

(i) "Magistrate" means the Judicial Magistrate of the first class, or as the case may be, the Metropolitan Magistrate, exercising jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) in the area where the aggrieved person resides temporarily or otherwise or the respondent resides or the domestic violence is alleged to have taken place;

(j) "medical facility" means such facility as may be notified by the State Government to be a medical facility for the purposes of this Act;

(k) "monetary relief" means the compensation which the Magistrate may order the respondent to pay to the aggrieved person, at any stage during the hearing of an application seeking any relief under this Act, to meet the expenses incurred and the losses suffered by the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence;

(l) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression "notified" shall be construed accordingly;

(m) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(n) "Protection Officer" means an officer appointed by the State Government under sub-section (1) of section 8;

(o) "protection order" means an order made in terms of section 18;

(p) "residence order" means an order granted in terms of sub-section (1) of section 19;

(q) "respondent" means any adult male person who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief under this Act:

Provided that an aggrieved wife or female living in a relationship in the nature of a marriage may also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the male partner;

(r) "service provider" means an entity registered under sub-section (1) of section 10;

(s) "shared household" means a household where the person aggrieved lives or at any stage has lived in a domestic relationship either singly or along with the respondent and includes such a household whether owned or tenanted either jointly by the aggrieved person and the respondent, or owned or tenanted by either of them in respect of which either the aggrieved person or the respondent or both jointly or singly have any right, title, interest or equity and includes such a household which may belong to the joint family of which the respondent is a member, irrespective of whether the respondent or the aggrieved person has any right, title or interest in the shared household;

(t) "shelter home" means any shelter home as may be notified by the State Government to be a shelter home for the purposes of this Act.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 2

Section 2 provides the core statutory definitions under the DV Act, articulating expansive protective concepts for 'aggrieved person', 'domestic relationship', 'respondent', and 'shared household'.

Penal Consequences & Liability: Clause (q) defines 'respondent'; following the landmark Hiral Harsora ruling, complaints can be lodged against adult males as well as female relatives participating in domestic abuse.
Procedural Scope: Sets the parameters for invoking statutory remedies and judicial protections.

Section 2 provides the expansive definitional foundation of the Act, ensuring wide protective coverage for all women facing violence within domestic relationships.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Hiral P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016) 10 SCC 165: Struck down the restrictive phrase 'adult male' in Section 2(q) as unconstitutional under Article 14, ruling that complaints under the DV Act are maintainable against female relatives (mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law) who perpetrate domestic violence.
Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja (2020) 10 SCC 756: Overruled S.R. Batra v. Taruna Batra, holding that 'shared household' under Section 2(s) is not restricted to property owned exclusively by the husband; it includes any property where the daughter-in-law lived in a domestic relationship with family.
D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal (2010) 10 SCC 469: Laid down the criteria for 'relationships in the nature of marriage' (live-in relationships) to claim protection under Section 2(f).

Legal Commentary:

Section 2 is the jurisdictional threshold of domestic violence litigation. By severing the strict requirement of formal wedlock and defining shared households functionally, the Supreme Court has transformed the Act into an impenetrable shield protecting estranged wives and live-in partners from immediate street-level evictions.

Section 2: Definitions

Section 2 of Domestic Violence Act, 2005: Definitions

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 2