The so-called protection orders usually are based on a prima-facie reading of the complaint and can include maintenance (despite the complainant being a well-earning woman), residence orders ordering the aged parents of the husband to be evicted, and custody orders for the children to be kept away from their father.

What is the punishment for filing a false complaint? None. What is the punishment for demanding huge amounts of money even if the wife is well-earning? None. What is the punishment for filing false statements under oath to harass the husband and his family? None. After all it is a woman, a victim since centuries, so all such conduct should be forgiven. Right?

Wrong.

Have you actually gone through some sample PWDVA cases? And the so-called Domestic Incident Reports? They contain frivolous allegations like he took me to Vaishno Devi non-stop without rest, my mother-in-law taunted me, my husband didn’t hug me. I am not kidding.

This is a draconian weapon, make no mistake. A husband cannot operate his SINGLY-owned bank accounts as a result of these protection orders, cannot live in or sell his own property after these protection orders, and so on and so forth.

The law protecting women from domestic violence is an attempt to bridge that inequality. Domestic violence is not just characterized by mere physical abuse, but includes verbal and emotional, economic, sexual abuse. The use of ‘abuse’ itself demonstrates that a mere argument is not covered under the law. The abuse must have mental and emotional impact. Also, the overall facts and circumstances of the case will be considered before passing an order. Additionally, the law provides civil reliefs. Only the violation of the protection order attracts penal consequences. I am not sure how a law protecting women from violence without attracting any punishment can be termed as a draconian law.

I would suggest the law and the constitution should be read carefully to understand the social context in which the legislation was passed.

By affixing a Rs 2 court fee stamp, urban, well-earning, affluent women are filing for exorbitant claims of maintenance and are flooding the metropolitan and district courts with their frivolous complaints. In the famous case of Nupur Aggarwal vs Rishi Aggarwal, Ms Aggarwal has filed for a compensation of Rs 150 Crore in her PWDVA complaint.

This is nothing short of legal terrorism, and coupled with the blatant misuse of IPC 498a and the anti-dowry laws, this is actually doing a disservice to genuinely aggreived women by making the courts look at such cases with suspicion and hesitation.

Moroever, many of these laws are cruel towards aging mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law. Just search for 498a on google and hundreds and thousands of horror stories will come pouring at you. Husbands have formed coalitions in all major cities in India to advise each other on how to defend themselves and their innocent families (in most cases) from greedy daughters-in-law.

The situation warrants a serious exploration into avoiding misuses of these draconion laws and affording the genuinely aggreived women and MEN a fast-track legal remedy against domestic violence.