Sections 30 and 31 of the Domestic Violence Act: Public Servants and Breach of Protection Order
Sections 30 and 31 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 deal with two distinct matters: the legal status of Protection Officers and members of service providers while performing functions under the Act, and the criminal consequence of a respondent breaching a protection order or interim protection order.
Section 30: Protection Officers and members of service providers as public servants
Meaning and effect. Section 30 provides that Protection Officers and members of service providers, while acting or purporting to act under the Domestic Violence Act or the rules or orders made under it, are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The provision attaches public-servant status to the specified persons for acts connected with their statutory functions. The expression is tied to the performance, or purported performance, of duties under the Act, rules or orders.
Who is a Protection Officer?
Under section 8 of the Act, the State Government appoints Protection Officers for specified areas. Their duties and functions are principally set out in section 9, including assisting the Magistrate, preparing a domestic incident report when required, facilitating applications for relief, and helping an aggrieved person obtain legal aid, shelter and medical assistance in accordance with the Act.
What is a service provider?
Section 10 permits eligible voluntary associations and companies working for protection of women's rights to register as service providers under the Act. Registered service providers may perform functions authorised by the statute, including recording a domestic incident report and facilitating medical examination or shelter in the circumstances provided by section 10.
Section 31: Penalty for breach of protection order by respondent
Section 31(1). Breach by the respondent of a protection order or an interim protection order is an offence under the Act. The maximum punishment is imprisonment of either description for up to one year, or fine up to Rs. 20,000, or both.
Section 31(2). As far as practicable, the offence is to be tried by the Magistrate who passed the order whose breach is alleged.
Section 31(3). The enacted text also permits the Magistrate, while framing charges, to frame charges under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, any other applicable IPC provision, or the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, if the facts disclose such an offence.
What amounts to a breach under Section 31?
Section 31 is attracted when a respondent violates a protection order or interim protection order made under the Act. The precise conduct prohibited depends on the terms of the particular judicial order. Section 18, for example, empowers the Magistrate to issue protection orders restraining specified conduct such as committing domestic violence, aiding or abetting it, entering specified places, attempting prohibited communication, alienating specified assets, or causing violence to persons assisting the aggrieved person.
Nature of the Section 31 offence
Section 32 is directly connected with section 31. It states that, notwithstanding the procedural code referred to in the enacted text, an offence under section 31(1) is cognizable and non-bailable. Section 32(2) further provides that the court may conclude, on the sole testimony of the aggrieved person, that an offence under section 31(1) has been committed. These provisions should be read together with sections 31 and 32 and the applicable criminal procedure law.
Important distinction
A protection order is a judicial direction intended to prevent specified conduct. Section 31 supplies the penal consequence for breach of a protection order or interim protection order. Whether an offence is established in an individual case depends on the order actually passed, the alleged act or omission, admissible evidence, and the applicable procedural law.
Official text and rules
For authoritative statutory wording, see the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 on India Code. The subordinate legislation is available as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006.