Yes, you can file the case against women and minor person in the Domestic Violence Act, the Supreme Court in Hiral P. Harsora and Ors. Vs.Kusum Narottam das Harsora and Ors. on 6th October, 2016 struck down the word “adult male” from the definition of Respondent in Section 2(q) of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and allowed the cases to be filed against any person. Now after this judgment, the definition under Section 2(q) states as follows:
“Respondent” means any person who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief under this Act:
Provided that an aggrieved wife or female living in a relationship in the nature of a marriage may also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the male partner.
While dealing with word “adult”, Supreme Court stated that – “It is not difficult to conceive of a non-adult 16 or 17 year old member of a household who can aid or abet the commission of acts of domestic violence, or who can evict or help in evicting or excluding from a shared household an aggrieved person. Also, a residence order which may be passed under Section 19(1)(c) can get stultified if a 16 or 17 year old relative enters the portion of the shared household in which the aggrieved person resides after a restraint order is passed against the respondent and any of his adult relatives. Examples can be multiplied, all of which would only lead to the conclusion that even the expression “adult” in the main part in Section 2(q) is restrictive of the object sought to be achieved by the kinds of orders that can be passed under the Act and must also be, therefore, struck down, as this word contains the same discriminatory vice that is found with its companion expression ‘male’.”