IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****
INDEX

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2021

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

Kiran Srivastava & Others …Petitioners.

Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh and Others …Respondents.

Sl. Particular of Papers. Dates Annex. Page No.

No. No. Fm | To
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

8.
9.

10.

11.

10.

11.

(Kiran Srivastava) (Simran Yadav) (Shabih Fatima)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****
 DATES AND EVENTS

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2020

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

Kiran Srivastava & Others …Petitioners.

Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh and Others …Respondents.

Dates Events
13-9-2005 Parliament DVAct 2005
Section 8 of the act provides that state government shall
appoint PO in each district who shall possess such
qualification and experience as prescribed.
After passing of 15 years, the state government has not
appointed a single PO in any district of the state and the DPO
under the JJ Act have been given the additional charge to
perform the duty of PO.
That entire functioning of system in absence of full fleged
PO is crippled and is resulting in non expeditious disposal of
cases as per section 12 (4) of the act.
That non appointing of PO is against the India’s commitment
to international covenants which it has ratified.

That non appointment of PO is denying justice to women

which is violative of articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
 The entire purpose of enacting special legislation will fail if
PO is not appointed.
Hence the writ petition is being filed by the petitioners.

(Kiran Srivastava) (Simran Yadav) (Shabih Fatima)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****

CIVIL MISC. STAY APPLCIATION No. OF 2020

(Under Chapter XXII Rule 1 of the High Court Rules)

On behalf of :-

Kiran Srivastava……Applicant/Petitioner.
IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2020

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )
 District:Prayagraj

Kiran Srivastava
Daughter of Sudhir Kumar Srivastava
B.A.LL.B, 3rd Year, C.M.P. Degree College, Prayagraj
R/o: Tilak Nagar Allahpur, Prayagraj

Simran Yadav
Daughter of Shree Sant Lal Yadav
B.A.LLB, 3rd Year, RML(NLU)
R/O 5/3A T.B. Sapru Road, Civil Lines
District: Prayagraj

Shabih Fatima
Daughter of Mr. Hasan Asghar Naqvi
B.A.LL.B, 2nd Year, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
R/o:. 467, Dariyabad.
District: Prayagraj

…Petitioners.
Versus

1. State of U.P
Through Principal Secretary (Social Welfare & Women Empowerment)
2. District Magistrate,
District Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh …
Respondents.

To,

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and his other companion Judges of the
aforesaid court.
 The humble application on behalf of above named, Applicant/
Petitioner, Most Respectfully Showeth as under:

1. That the full facts and circumstances of the case have been stated in

the accompanying (PIL) writ petition, which forms part of this

application.

PRAYER

It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may
graciously be pleased to direct the respondents Separate Protection
Officer (PO) should be recruited by the government to reduce
domestic violence in each district in proportion to their requirement to
deal with the cases of domestic violence expeditiously.

(Kiran Srivastava) (Simran Yadav) (Shabih Fatima)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
*****

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2020

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

1. Kiran Srivastava
Daughter of Dr. Sudhir Kumar Srivastava
B.A.LL.B, 3rd Year, C.M.P. Degree College, Prayagraj
R/o: 72, Tilaknagar Allahpur.
District: Prayagraj.

2. Shabih Fatima
Daughter of Mr. Hasan Asghar Naqvi
B.A.LL.B, 2nd Year, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
R/o:. 467, Dariyabad.
District: Prayagraj

3. Simran Yadav
Daughter of Shree Sant Lal Yadav
B.A.LLB, 3rd Year, RML(NLU)
R/O 5/3A T.B. Sapru Road, Civil Lines
District:Prayagraj

…Petitioners.
Versus

1. State of U.P
Through Principal Secretary (Social Welfare & Women
Empowerment)
2. District Magistrate,
District Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
…Respondents.

To,
 The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and his other companion Judges of the

aforesaid court.

The humble application on behalf of above named, Petitioner, Most

Respectfully Showth as under:

1. That this is the first Writ Petition being filed on the present cause of

action and no other Petition of any kind has been filed by or on behalf

of the Petitioners for the same or similar relief.

2. That no copy of the caveat application has been received by the

Petitioners nor do Petitioners have any knowledge regarding filing of

any caveat application on behalf of any of the Respondents.

3. That the petitioners have no ill-will of prejudice towards anyone and

they are not prejudiced in filing the present Public Interest Litigation.

4. That the petitioners are not filing this petition to benefit themselves or

to harm any person or institution.

5. That the petitioners are not filing this Public Interest Litigation at the

behest of some other persons to fulfill their other motives.

6. That the petitioners are not filing this Public Interest Litigation for any

personal interest or personal gain.

7. That there is no pronouncement of the Supreme Court and High Court

on this very subject of sharp rise in domestic violence cases in the

country.
8. That this P.I.L. has not been sponsored, it is not at the behest of some

persons having ulterior motive and it has compiled with the

requirement contained in Chapter XXII (3A) of the High Court Rules.

9. That the petitioners are the law students who are doing internship on

Human Rights at the office of the Human Rights Legal network at

Prayagraj.

10.That under the mandatory guidelines of the Bar Council of India, if

law students undergoing 5 years course have to attend 10 internships

compulsorily in different fields. One of the fields for internship is

Human Rights in which the petitioners are expected to study the cases

of violation of human rights, environmental rights, juvenile rights,

women rights, do fact finding and if necessary prepare a fact finding

report, sending it to various commissions like Human Rights

Commission, Commission for Women’s Rights, NCPCR, etc. The law

interns also file PILs and argue in person before the Hon’ble High

Courts and Supreme Courts.

11.That the petitioners came through a news paper report published in

reputed English daily “THE HINDU” under the heading stating ‘सड़क

चौड़ीकरण के लिए फिर काटेगे हजारों पेड़’ dated 24 June 2020. A photocopy of is

being filed herewith and marked as Annexure No. 1.

12. That on the basis of news report an urgent meeting was called in the

office of Human Rights Legal Network (HRLN) on …….2020 and a

fact finding team was formed and it was decided that the fact finding
 team shall collect all the relevant report and data produced by various

commissions and institutions working for women’ rights .That the fact

finding team consisted of law students who visited District Probation

Office to enquire into the functioning of protection officers in relation

to domestic violence cases in the district.

13. That the following is the summary of the report filed by the interns:

DISTRICT PROBATION OFFICE



14.That the Studies, over the years, have shown a direct link
between times of crisis like these and interpersonal violence.
Many countries reported a 15-30% hike in the number of
distress calls received from women who were confined in
closed spaces with abusive partners. Pandemics provide for an
enabling environment of fear and uncertainty that may
exacerbate diverse forms of violence against women. Moreover,
economic insecurity, financial instability, and isolation are also
some of the factors that contribute to making domestic violence
even more prevalent.
15.That unfortunately, domestic violence cases are underreported
across the world, especially in times of global emergencies like
COVID-19. In India, the National Family Health Survey-4,
conducted in 2015-16, revealed that 33% of married women in
the age group of 15-49 experienced physical, sexual, or
emotional spousal violence. Of these women, only 14% sought
help and 77% never spoke about it. Among those who sought
help, 65% reported to the natal family and only 3% reported to
the police. On 24 March 2020, the Prime Minister of India
 announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the
Novel Coronavirus. Within a fortnight, the National
Commission of Women (NCW) reported a 100% rise in
complaints of domestic violence cases. , the gradual relaxation
of the lockdown saw a subsequent surge in the complaints.
While 552 complaints were recorded in the month of May, June
saw over 730 complaints. This data shows that while the
concern of a rapid increase in the domestic violence cases
during the lockdown was valid, the instances were not actively
reported.
16.As per the report of National Commission For Women,
during 2018-2019 total number of complaints received for
violence against women were 1639 and for protection of
women against domestic violence 462. And Uttar Pradesh tops
the list of states where high number of complaints for crime
against women has been reported with total number of 11289
complaints. Also, according to data released by National
Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) for 2018, DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE against women is the top gender related crime.
Also in its data that were released in the year 2019, Uttar
Pradesh was the state in which highest number (59853) of cases
for crime against women, were reported to police officials
alone. Since, it is a known fact that due to lack of awareness
amongst people and various barriers one such being the
unavailability of female protection officers or availability of
protection officers that are burdened with other responsibilities,
number of domestic violence cases in reality are far great in
numbers than those that are reported.
17. That Domestic violence affects women from every social
background irrespective of their age, religion, caste, or class. It
is a violent crime that not only affects a person and her innocent
 children but also has wider implications for society. Though the
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 guarantees justice to women who
suffer domestic violence, but the Act hasn't been implemented
properly and there is a dire need to raise awareness among
people and make the protection under the act easily available to
the needy. The objective of the Act lays down “An Act to
provide for more effective protection of the rights of
women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of
violence of any kind occurring within the family and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
18.That the objective of the Act lays down “An Act to provide for
more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed
under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any
kind occurring within the family and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.”

19.That the definition of domestic violence under section 3 of the

Domestic Violence Act 2005, has evolved over the years to an
extent it not only includes physical forms of violence but also
emotional, mental, financial, and other forms of cruelty. Thus,
the term domestic violence includes acts which harm or
endangers the health, safety, life, limb, or wellbeing (mental or
physical) of the victim, or tends to do so, and includes causing:
physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse,
and economic abuse, perpetrated by any person who is or was
in a domestic relationship with the victim.

20.As per the report of National Family Health Survey 3 Violence

against women is a serious problem in India. Overall, one-third
of women age 15-49 have experienced physical violence and
about 1 in 10 has experienced sexual violence. In total, 35 percent
have experienced physical or sexual violence. This figure
 translates into millions of women who have suffered, and
continue to suffer, at the hands of husbands and other family
members. NFHS-3 collected information from married and
unmarried women age 15-49 about their experience of physical
and sexual violence. Married women were also asked about their
experience of emotional violence. NFHS-3 findings underscore
the extent and severity of violence against women in India,
especially married women.

21.That States with 40 percent or higher prevalence of spousal

physical or sexual violence include Uttar Pradesh Tripura,
Manipur, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Assam (see figure).

22.NHRC

23.That the legislative intent was further emphasized by the Supreme

Court of India in the case of Indra Sarma v. V.K.V
Sarma, wherein it was stated that the DV Act is enacted to
provide a remedy in civil law for the protection of women, from
being victims of such relationship, and to prevent the occurrence
of domestic violence in the society.
24.The Madras High Court in Vandhana v. T. Srikanth,  in one of the
early cases since the enactment of the DV Act, observed that the
Act was formulated to implement Recommendation No. 12 of
United Nations Committee on Convention on Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1989
and which was ratified by India in June, 1993. Interpretation of
the DV Act should conform to international conventions and
international instruments and norms.
25.That the spirit of Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1989, is rooted in the
goals of the UNITED NATIONS: to reaffirm faith in
 fundamental human rights, in dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women. The convention
explicitly acknowledges that “extensive discrimination against
women continues to exist” and emphasize that such discrimination
violates the principle of equality for rights and respect for human
dignity. As defined in article 1, discrimination is understood as
"any distinction, exclusion or restriction made o.1 the basis of
sex...in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other
field".

Article 2 of the Convention says that States Parties condemn

discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by
all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating
discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake (a),(b),
(c),( d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of
discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities
and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;
……………..

The Convention gives positive affirmation to the principle of

equality by requiring States parties to take "all appropriate
measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and
advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the
exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms
on a basis of equality with men"(article 3)

26.Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the principle of

the inadmissibility of discrimination and proclaims that all human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that
everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein,
without distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex.
27.That, as per the Act, the victim can directly approach the
Protection Officer (PO) for justice. But, it is found that the
 Government delivers the charge of Protection Officer to senior
officers who already have other responsibilities. And those
officials, who are appointed as Protection Officers, are unaware
about their responsibility. Section 5 of the act clearly states the
duties of the protection officer. Similarly no recruitment of
Protection Officer was done in last seven years.
28.That “Protection Officers are very lenient about their work. They
handle the cases just as a work and not to show their performance
to help someone. The domestic violence act is very beneficial for
the victims. As per the law, the result should come up within 90
days. But, due to leniency of officials………..
29.That the victim should get protection within 60 days of the
registration of a case. Even, the first hearing will be done within
that 60-day period, but due to the delay by officials it takes a long
time. Most of the time, the cases reach the officials at the last stage
of the domestic violence, due to lack of awareness.
30.That Section 8 of The Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005 states that
(1) The State Government shall, by notification, appoint such number
of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary
and shall also notify the area or areas within which a Protection
Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred
on him by or under this Act.
(2) Clause 2 of the same section also states that the protection officer
shall as far as possible be women.
31.Women are the soft targets for domestic violence, but …….. per cent
Protection Officers are male and just ….. percent are female.
…..percent lawyers who deal with domestic violence are male and ….
per cent are female. The word ‘shall’ itself in the abovementioned
section shows the mandatory duty on the part of the government to
appoint the as many protection officers as required to tackle with
 the domestic violence issue in the district. When we did the survey we
found out to our surprise that not only there is no female and
proportionate number of protection officer to the domestic violence
cases in the district but also there is no separate protection officer
recruited for the reporting of domestic violence cases. Bare reading of
the section 8 of the act shows how significant is the appointment of
protection officers in dealing and disposing the cases of domestic
violence at the earliest. Also the legislation has not limited the
number of Protection Officers, that can be appointed in a particular
district or area but there is a legislative clarity that the number of
protection officers should be as many as required in a particular
district/area.
32.That Though legislation like Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005, has been enacted, there has been no improvement
in the condition of the women and the situation had even worsened
during the lockdown due to ineffective implementation of this special
legislation that was enacted only with the purpose of protecting
women from various forms of violence. Proper implementation of the
Act and quick decision making should be done during solving a case.

GROUNDS

BECAUSE, Domestic Violence Act, 2005 guarantees justice to

women who suffer domestic violence, but the Act hasn't been
implemented properly and there is a dire need to raise awareness
among people and make the protection under the act easily available
to the needy.

BECAUSE, Domestic Violence, not only affects the lives of

individuals but also their children who are innocent.

BECAUSE, Domestic Violence Act, 2005, is a special legislation to

curb the problems (especially in the form of domestic violence), faced
by women in day to day life and to expressly perceive every Woman's
Right to be in a home without Violence. And in a country, where
constitution guarantees equal rights to women and men, it is a shame
that women still have to struggle even for small things. A simple
example of this is the domestic violence against women.

BECAUSE, The act was brought mainly, to protect victims (women)

from offenders and to reduce the domestic crime in the society. But
due to some negligence by government, the victims are unable to raise
their voice against the harassment.”

BECAUSE, there are various international conventions and

organisations that affirm the principle of the inadmissibility of
discrimination and proclaims that all human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the
rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind,
including distinction based on sex.

PRAYER

It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may

graciously be pleased to:

Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of MANDAMUS directing

the Respondents that

1. Separate Protection Officer (PO) should be recruited by the

government to reduce domestic violence in each district in
proportion to their requirement to deal with the cases of domestic
violence expeditiously.
2. The court or legal procedure should be easy for the victims and
proper protection should be provided to them by the authority.
3. Justice should be delivered in the mentioned time period (60
Days).
4. Majority of POs are male but victims are females, hence
government should recruit female POs for the benefit of female
victims.
5. Proper implementation of the Act and quick decision making
should be done during solving a case.

(Kiran Srivastava) (Simran Yadav) (Shabih Fatima)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
*****

DECLARATION

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2021

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

Ayush Srivastava and Others …

Petitioners.
Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh and Others …Respondents.

I, Akshay Prakash,aged about 20 years Son of Rakesh Kumar, R/o 245A,

OM Gayatri Nagar, District-Prayagraj, do hereby solemnly affirm and
declare that the contents of para
nos.__________________________________________________________
__________________________&__of the accompanying writ petition are
true to my personal knowledge and information received and those contents
of paragraph
nos.__________________________________________________________
_______&___of the accompanying writ petition are based on perusal of
record and those contents of paragraph nos.
__________________________________________________________&__
of the accompanying writ petition are based on legal advice; which all I
believe to be true that no part of it is false and nothing material has been
concealed in it.
1. That due to lockdown the deponent is not in a position to swear

affidavit and the contents of writ petition alongwith Annexures have been

read over and verified.

2. That the deponent undertakes that he will file the proper affidavit after the

lockdown is over or if required by this Hon’ble Court.

3. That in view of the above facts and circumstances this Hon’ble Court may

be pleased to take this verification on record and treat the same as part of

writ petition, to meet the ends of justice.

So Help Me God.

(Darshan Gupta) (Akshay Prakash) (Ayush Kumar

Srivastava)

(Kiran Srivastava) (Shabih Fatima) (Ayush Maurya)

(Namrata Singh)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****
 CIVIL MISC. EXEMPTION APPLICATION NO. 2020
(Under Chapter XXII Rule 1 of the High Court Rules, 1952)

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2020

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

1. Kiran Srivastava
Daughter of Dr. Sudhir Kumar Srivastava
B.A.LL.B, 5th Semester, C.M.P. Degree College, Prayagraj
R/o: 72, Tilaknagar Allahpur.
District: Prayagraj.

2. Simran Yadav
Daughter of Shree Sant Lal Yadav
B.A.LLB, 5th Semester, RML(NLU)
R/O 5/3A T.B. Sapru Road, Civil Lines
District:Prayagraj

3. Shabih Fatima
Daughter of Late Shree Prasun Kumar Bose
LL.B, 1st Semester, LPU, Punjab.
R/o: 82A TulaRam Bagh, M.G Marg.
District: Prayagraj

…Petitioners.
Versus

1. State of U.P
(Through its Chief Secretary).
District: Lucknow

2. State of U.P
(Through its Principal Secretary, Environment)
District: Lucknow

…Respondents.
 To,

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and his other companion judge of the
aforesaid curt.

The humble application of the above named applicant most

respectfully showeth as under.

1. That , full facts, reason and circumstances and narrated in the

accompanying writ petition which also from part of this
application.

2. That due to lock down the petitioner is unable to file the photo
affidavit, stamps and affidavit which may kindly condoned and
petitioner shall full all necessary requirements immediately within
the fifteen days of lifting of lock down.

PRAYER

It is, therefore most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court

may kindly condone the petitioner in filling photo affidavit,
stamps which shall be submitted within fifteen days of the lifting
of the lock down period and to pass such other and further order
which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper under the facts
and circumstances of the present case.

(Darshan Gupta) (Akshay Prakash) (Ayush Kumar

Srivastava)
(Kiran Srivastava) (Shabih Fatima) (Ayush Maurya) (Namrata
Singh)

(Simran Yadav) (Ayush Yadav)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****

ANNEXURE NO. ( 6 )

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. OF 2020

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

( DISTRICT :: PRAYAGRAJ )

Ayush Srivastava and Others …

Petitioners.
Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh and Others …Respondents.

(Ayush Kumar Srivastava) (Darshan Gupta) (Akshay Prakash)

(Kiran Srivastava) (Shabih Fatima) (Ayush Maurya) (Namrata

Singh)

(Simran Yadav) (Ayush Yadav)

(ALL IN-PERSON)

Dated :………… Mob.:…………….