Domestic Violence Act — Power to Vacate Order · 22 April 2026

N.K. Prasannan and Anr. v. State of Kerala and Ors.: Magistrate Can Vacate Own Injunction Passed Under a Mistake in DV Act Case

High Court of Kerala · 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 216; Crl.R.P. No. 555 of 2025

While deciding an application under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, a Magistrate had passed an injunction restraining the alienation of a property, proceeding on the understanding that it belonged to the respondents in that case. In fact the property belonged to the petitioners before the High Court, who were not parties to the original DV proceeding. When they applied to have the injunction vacated, the Magistrate declined, holding that a DV court could not decide questions of property title and that they should approach a civil court instead.

The Kerala High Court held that the Magistrate had misunderstood the nature of the relief being sought — the petitioners were not asking for a declaration of title, only for an injunction wrongly passed against their own property to be lifted. Relying on the principle that no one should be prejudiced by an act of the court, the High Court held that a Magistrate who has the power to pass such an injunction also has the power to vacate or modify it where it has caused prejudice through no fault of the affected party, and set aside the order declining to do so.

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