The Supreme Court in Prabha Tyagi vs Kamlesh Devi observed that "Even if an aggrieved person is not in a domestic relationship with the respondent in a shared household at the time of filing of an application under Section 12 of the D.V. Act but has at any point of time lived so or had the right to live and has been subjected to domestic violence or is later subjected to domestic violence on account of the domestic relationship, is entitled to file an application under Section 12 of the D.V. Act."
The facts in the instant case were that an application was filed under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act by a woman, after the death of her husband, against her mother-in-law and father-in-law, seeking a residence order to reside in the property of her late husband, return of streedhan etc. The Magistrate allowed most of the reliefs and directed that the respondents shall not obstruct the aggrieved woman and her daughter from enjoying the property of her late husband. However, the order was reversed by the appellate court on the mere pretext that she and her husband used to live in a different city where they both worked and also that after the death of her husband there was so subsisting relationship between the complainant and her in-laws. The same was upheld by the High Court and the matter reached the Apex Court.
There were two issues before the Court, they are:-
1. Whether it is mandatory for the aggrieved person to reside with those persons against whom the allegations have been levelled at the point of commission of violence?
2. Whether there should be a subsisting domestic relationship between the aggrieved person and the person against whom the relief is claimed?
The court answered the first issue as follows:-
“It is held that it is not mandatory for the aggrieved person, when she is related by consanguinity, marriage or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family, to actually reside with those persons against whom the allegations have been levelled at the time of commission of domestic violence. If a woman has the right to reside in the shared household under Section 17 of the D.V. Act and such a woman becomes an aggrieved person or victim of domestic violence, she can seek reliefs under the provisions of D.V. Act including enforcement of her right to live in a shared household".
About the second issue, the Court stated that “....the Parliament has intentionally used the expression 'domestic relationship' to mean a relationship between two persons who not only live together in the shared household but also between two persons who 'have at any point of time lived together in a shared household…” and
“.... it is not necessary that at the time of filing of an application by an aggrieved person, the domestic relationship should be subsisting. In other words, even if an aggrieved person is not in a domestic relationship with the respondent in a shared household at the time of filing of an application under Section 12 of the D.V. Act but has at any point of time lived so or had the right to live and has been subjected to domestic violence or is later subjected to domestic violence on account of the domestic relationship, is entitled to file an application under Section 12 of the D.V. Act.”