Domestic Violence Act — Effect of Divorce Decree · 7 July 2026
Puneet Rastogi v. State of U.P.: Allahabad High Court Declines to Quash Wife's DV Act Case Merely Because Husband Obtained a Divorce Decree
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad · 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 373
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The parties married in 2017 and later moved to Ghaziabad. The husband sued for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act on grounds of cruelty, alleging among other things that his wife was disrespectful and uncooperative during his father's illness and refused to look after his widowed mother. The wife said in her written statement that she had been beaten and thrown out of the house. The divorce was granted on the ground of cruelty, while the wife's application under Section 9 and her claim for return of streedhan were dismissed. The wife had also filed a domestic violence complaint under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The husband asked the High Court to quash it, calling it a counterblast and arguing that a decree finding cruelty by the wife meant her claim could not stand.
Justice Brij Raj Singh rejected the husband's application. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Prabha Tyagi v. Kamlesh Devi, which held that a domestic relationship continues between spouses even after judicial separation, the Court held that proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act require a trial and that the High Court could not hold a mini-trial and quash them on the strength of the divorce decree. The Court did not decide whether either side's allegations are true.
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