The High Court has said that an application filed under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, should be decided by the Magistrate within two months (sixty days) from the date of its presentation.

The Court, while allowing a petition filed by one Rajamma H, directed the Metropolitan Magistrate at Bangalore to dispose of the application filed by the petitioner, along with criminal miscellaneous application seeking maintenance, within a period of two weeks.

The petitioner had approached the court seeking a direction to dispose of the interlocutory/main application filed under the Act in an outer limit of three months. It was stated the petitioner also filed an interlocutory application seeking maintenance in her favour. The said application was filed on 12-11-2021 along with the main application. Notice is issued in the case on 20-12-2021 after which, there was no consideration of her application seeking maintenance.

The petitioner submitted that every application accompanying the main application should be decided by the Magistrate within three months from the date of its presentation in terms of Section 12 of the Act. Since there is no compliance with the provision, the petitioner had presented the present petition seeking a direction for expeditious disposal of the interlocutory application by the Magistrate.

The bench referred to Sub-section (5) of Section 12 of the Act which reads as follows:

"12. Application to Magistrate.----(5) The Magistrate shall endeavor to dispose of every application made under sub-section (1) within a period of sixty days from the date of its first hearing."

It then observed "The order sheet reveals that the application was filed on 12-11-2021 seeking maintenance. Six months have passed by. The order sheet does not demonstrate any consideration of the application."

It added, "Therefore, the petitioner is entitled to a mandamus at the hands of this Court or a direction to the learned Magistrate to dispose of the application for maintenance expeditiously."

The Court directed the Magistrate to dispose of the application filed by the petitioner, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the HC order.

Accordingly it allowed the petition.