THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.DURGA PRASAD CRIMINAL PETITION No.6759 of 2008 This is a petition filed under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code (for short Cr.P.C.) for quashing the proceedings in DVC.No.3787 of 2008 on the file of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad. 2. The second respondent herein has filed a complaint under Section 12 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 seeking the relief of protection under Section 18 of the Act and for payment of monthly maintenance alleging that the petitioners have harassed her demanding to get additional dowry and treated her as a maidservant even without providing proper food and driven her out of the house in the year 2006 and thereafter also they continued harassment threatening to give divorce by her husband. 3. Heard the learned counsel for petitioners and the learned counsel for respondent No.2. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioners has pleaded that for the same allegations, the respondent No.2 already filed a complaint under Section 498-A IPC and the same was registered as a case in Crime No.187 of 2007, again for the same allegations she has filed the present petition under Domestic Violence Act. As such the present complaint is not maintainable. 5. He also further pleaded that the respondent No.2 is living separately from the petitioners for last 1 ½ years prior to the filing of the complainant, as such the question of causing any domestic violence prior to lodging of the complaint does not arise. 6. Learned Counsel for the respondent No.2, on the other hand, pleaded that the petitioners have harassed the complainant while she was living with them and even after she was driven out of the house and when she was residing with her parents and her parents are making efforts to send her to her husband, the petitioners have threatened them and insisted her to give divorce to her husband. Therefore, the complaint under Domestic Violence Act is maintainable. 7. As per the averments made in the complaint, it is evident that for the same allegations the respondent No.2 already filed a complaint under Section 498-A IPC and the same is pending for investigation. Admittedly, she is living separately since 1½ years from the petitioners as she was driven out of her house and they are not allowing her to come back to the house and demanding her to give divorce to her husband. It is also alleged in the complaint that the respondent No.2 was physically and mentally harassed by the petitioners even after she was driven out of the house. It is also alleged that the jehez articles and her clothes were kept with the petitioners and they are not allowing her take those articles also. Simply, because a complaint under Section 498-A IPC was already lodged by the respondent No.2, it cannot be said that the application under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act is not maintainable as the reliefs that can be granted under Domestic Violence Act are different from the reliefs that can be granted under Section 498-A IPC. In view of the allegation that the petitioners also harassed the respondent No.2 even after she was driven out of her house and they have also threatened her to give divorce to her husband, as such the domestic violence was continued even after she was driven out of the house of the petitioners. Therefore, it cannot be said that simply because she is living separately from the petitioners, there is no domestic violence, more over all these aspects have to be ascertained during the course of enquiry in the above said Domestic Violence Case. Therefore, the petitioners are not entitled for quashing of the proceedings as prayed for. 8. In the result, the criminal petition is dismissed. _____________________ P.DURGA PRSAD, J 1st April, 2011 KSP