He Filed Divorce. Two Days Later, His 70-Year-Old Parents Were Named in a False Domestic Violence Case They Had Nothing to Do With. Read The Full Story
What Was the Case
Our client, a 33-year-old HR manager, filed for divorce. His marriage had been full of conflicts for many years. Right after our client filed for divorce, his wife filed a complaint under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and criminal complaint under Section 498A of the IPC / Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Apart from him, his elderly parents were also named in the complaint, even though they had almost no direct contact with the couple during the time the alleged incidents were supposed to have happened.
Within days, the court passed an ex-parte residence order. This order stopped our client from entering his own flat, a flat couple jointly owned. All this happened before the court had even given him a chance to be heard.
His reputation spoiled almost overnight. People at his workplace and in his neighbourhood had already declared him guilty before any court had checked a single fact. This made things stressful and uncomfortable for him.
What Made This Case Difficult
- His elderly parents, both over 70 years of age, were named as accused in a case they had almost nothing to do with, causing stress and anxiety to the whole family
- An ex-parte residence order already restricted him from entering his own jointly-owned home before any proper hearing had even taken place
- His reputation got damaged at his workplace. Employees heard about the FIR and the DV complaint before any facts had been examined in court
- At the time of complaint filing, His wife told the police one version of story, later on she told a different story in her Domestic Violence Act statement
- Domestic violence and cruelty laws are made to protect real victims quickly. So our client had to work patiently to prove the truth, instead of just denying the allegations.
How SPJ Advocates Handled It
Months 1–5 — Protecting the Elderly Parents
- Gathered detailed call records, travel bookings, and building society visitor logs establishing clearly that his parents were not even in the same city during the specific period the complaint referred to
- We filed a detailed application supported by the call and travel records, requesting the court to fully discharge the parents from the case.
- The parents were discharged from the case within 5 months. This happened once the record was clearly shown to the court.
Months 6–12 — Restoring His Right to His Own Home
- We challenged and changed the one-sided ex-parte residence order in court. Now our client had the legal right to live in one portion of the the jointly-owned flat, instead of being fully locked out of his own home.
- We collected statements from neighbours and detailed entry-exit records from the building society guards. These matched our client's version of events on the exact dates in question.
- We brought to the court's notice that his wife's first police statement did not match what she said later in court
Months 13–17 — Mediation / Settlement
- Filed a petition for quashing the case on the ground of contradiction between the two statements. At the same time, we also left room for a settlement, rather than an unnecessarily long trial.
- We reached at settlement that covered everything together, the criminal complaint, the Domestic Violence Act case, and the pending divorce.
- As part of this final settlement, all criminal cases against our client and his parents were formally withdrawn.
The Result
His elderly parents were discharged from the case in 5 months. This happened once we presented the evidence to court. The
The whole dispute was solved in 17 months. Both sides agreed to a mutual consent divorce as part of the settlement. All criminal cases against our client and his parents were also closed as part of this final agreement.
Falsely named in a domestic violence case, or your own family been dragged into your matrimonial dispute? Call SPJ Advocates at +91-8920245815 to discuss your case.
