Magistrate Exercising Jurisdiction Under the DV Act has the Power to Direct the Matter to Mediation - Kerala HC

Case: Mathew Daniel v Leena Mathew

Kerala High Court recently held that magistrate courts have the power to refer domestic violence cases to mediation. According to Justice Kauser Edappagath, proceedings that deal with civil rights do not end simply because the criminal court is the forum for their enforcement. Therefore, it held that as per the CPC, the Magistrate exercising jurisdiction under the DV Act has the power to direct the matter to mediation and to pass the terms of the settlement.

The Court was hearing a plea moved by a man to quash an order by the trial court directing him to pay ₹25 lakh to his divorced wife as a settlement between their disputes. The trial court had passed the order after the petitioner's wife filed a case against him under Sections 18, 19, 20, and 22, of the Domestic Violence Act. The trial court had directed the petitioner to pay the said amount sum as per the mediation agreement between the parties.

Before the HC, the petitioner contended that he had signed the mediation agreement without understanding its implications and that it was without merit, and therefore filed the petition to quash the lower court's order.

Counsel for the respondent argued that the arguments of the petitioner were baseless.

The HC, after hearing the parties, said that a petitioner is a literate person, and the mediation agreement with lawful terms was signed in the presence of the counsel of the petitioner. In this case, the petitioner miserably failed to prima facie satisfy that he executed the mediation agreement without knowing its consequences.