The standard thing that needs to be done when husbands get summons from court in maintenance/DV case is to file objections. Ok, some people may say that the judge will send the case to mediation first, but the useless drama that goes by mediation is the subject of another post later. So here I provide very simple way how to write the objections for each statement in wife’s petition. It is always advised to write your own and send it to advocate for taking print and filing in court. Because even though wives are allowed to tell lies and rampant contradictions, higher standards may get applied to statements made by respondent husbands.
The standard way is like this:
Wife’s petition says:
In the XYZ court between
Maharani DV-498A Petitioner
vs
‘Victim’-of-false-cases Respondent
1. I got married on XYZ date in ABC place etc.
2. I was not given food
3. I was beaten up
4. Husband is impotent
5. I was sexually abused
6. blah blah blah
In the end, her petition says: “I should be given 50,000 p.m maintenance, legal costs, blah blah blah…”
So your objection /written statement should be like this:
1. Admitted the fact of marriage of petitioner and respondent on XYZ date in ABC place. (if the fact of marriage and date/place are true)
2. Petitioner’s allegation that “I was not given food” is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same. Or maybe better to use third person format like: Petitioner’s allegation that she was not given food is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same.
3. Petitioner’s allegation that she was beaten up is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same.
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Similarly take each para/point in petition and if something is true, you can accept that and whatever is false you can deny in same format as above.
You can also add up some of your own points, story, or allegations if you will. Later on the same can become part of your evidence/affidavit. This is because if wife makes even false allegations but we don’t even state the actual domestic violence at hands of wife what happened; then a presumption may arise in mind of judges that the one who makes allegations might have at least 20% truth in those allegations, but the one who simply denies but has no counter-allegations to make might be the culprit. Don’t ask me the logic behind this, family courts are not run based on much logic anyway. It’s a psychological game so one shouldn’t be seen to be coming under any pressure. Or to take a logical perspective of human psychology behind it: Trying only to defend may not be the right defence. Many lawyers will suggest in beginning to focus only on denial and defending (to steer towards C-word basically), but I tend to disagree because if the cases actually go to evidence and full trial, not having made any allegations in the objection statement may create a disconnect and a disadvantage.
In the end, state that “for the reasons mentioned above, petitioner’s petition should be dismissed with exemplary costs, in the interest of justice and equity”.
During the objections, one need not give any evidence. But I would not be very strict about ”don’t disclose any evidence till trial” policy advocated by many. It’s not a purely legal game, it’s also a psychological game, so if one can create some fear in opponent’s minds at the very beginning of the cases by disclosing some tactical evidence; they may feel the same fear and uncertainty that they want you to feel about what’s going to happen next. This can be suitably followed up to make them agree to a zero or token alimony divorce. Else they may think that you are scared OR you want to beg and bring wife back, which never works in practice anyway as explained in the main Advice to men post.
Below update on 13/04/2017:
Questions on preparing and writing WS/Objections
OP: Opposite Party (wife etc in matrimonial petitions/complaints)
1) What is the ideal way of preparing the WS: Deny all N allegations serially point-by-point with N statements. Then write your own allegations in a separate section under “Additional Plea”?
OR
Deny all N allegations and also include our own statements in between, thus maintaining a chronological order of statements?
A combination of both can be probably most practical and suitable. The reason for this is that some of your counter points and rebuttals make sense when made immediately after refuting the false allegation point made by OP to which they are strongly connected based on time/date of event etc. This makes for a nice flow, and these counter points can later be used at arguments stage too. Many a time the false petitions of OP contain vague allegations without proper time, dates or even chronological order. In that scenario, you may tactically give your own version of the facts and you can put accurate time/dates also to make it look more plausible and professionally written too. In case the OP’s petition has points given in random time order, you need not bother why they have made points jumbled up in time, but just reply to each point in OP’s petition/complaint in same order they appear.
After refuting of OP’s points above is done, you may still have your own points to make and facts to disclose about abuse/cruelty done to you, and give statements of facts which are important but conveniently hidden by OP, and maybe even to unload things off your chest and put them on paper and let the judicial process take a decision later on whose version is closer to truth. Now you can make all these points preferably in chronological or topical order (e.g. all child related points if any could be made all together). It’s more important that the points are all put on paper than aiming for perfection in ordering, organising of logical flow etc. Writing to perfection can be very time consuming and probably not needed either given the OP cases are based on thin grounds. We are not writing a fiction novel but a legal reply to a badly made OP’s petition. What’s desirable and enough is that your WS reply should make for a logical reading and an unfolding story.
2) While denying the allegations, it is advisable to:
Just deny generally like “allegation that she was not given food is denied and she is put to strict proof of the same”
OR
Add your own way of proving the allegation false like “allegation that she was not given is denied because she was on holiday/office/xyz place and it’s not possible to have not given her food”
Strictly speaking a denial may be enough and that’s what most lawyers also suggest. The only problem I have seen with this deny-only-because-I-am-innocent-anyway approach is that matrimonial cases are fought based mainly on allegations and very little substance by way of documents, recordings, messages etc. Interim orders are given routinely based on so called ‘force’ of allegations made by wives. That is how the situation has come about that it has become more about how to survive and play in a drama. But the main advantage of giving arguments and pointing out contradictions and inconsistencies within OP’s petition/complaint is that it tends to put the OP/advocate on backfoot since for too long the wife’s side and advocates have been acting like they are ‘players’ with an exaggerated sense of entitlement and overconfident attitude in courts. A strongly worded and logically explained WS immediately punctures their confidence by 50% at least, and mostly it is being seen that they are actually even reluctant to come for evidence stage after that.
Another very important thing that is being seen is that after filing a strong WS, many judges are asking for complainant to move to evidence stage directly without considering her interim application for maintenance etc. That is a huge win since it means now they can get relief only after full judicial trial of evidence, cross-exam etc, which the OP side are most reluctant to engage in since their goal usually is not to get quick trial and justice for their allegations but to get interim maintenance and then sit and relax.
3) Is it required or advisable to include any precedence/judgement regarding maintenance/costs/alimony/support in the case where wife is working/educated/able to work?
Though citing judgments is normally done while doing arguments on interim applications or for final arguments on main petition/complaint, putting a few citations may not harm. But it should not be carried to an extreme. Many people think that just collecting judgments and citations will help their cause but if the judgment is not matching facts of your case closely, it may only distract from the overall case and arguments.
4) Can we request dismissal of petition based on jurisdiction too apart from the other statements and allegations?
A case cannot be filed normally if jurisdiction does not exist in that court. This a basic point of law but somehow the adhering to basic points of law has been pushed under the carpet in favour of accepting any case which is submitted to a court, and let the proceedings begin. Although many lawyers suggest to file objections and raise jurisdictional simultaneously as a point, somehow it seems totally against common legal sense. If you start giving point by point reply to whole petition/complaint of OP then in a way you are admitting that the petition/complaint is valid. An alternative approach can be to be ready with written objections but at first make submissions and argue for case dismissal itself since it is not maintainable due to jurisdiction. If that submission is overruled, then you can file WS on next date itself.
NIRMALYA Das says
May 12, 2019 at 3:52 pmI have gone through your various articles and suggestions that you have quoted on various queries.very concise useful and based on time. Thank you.
Rohan Pawar says
April 13, 2019 at 3:47 pmHello Sir,
My wife has filed 498a case on me and my parents near her hometown.after FIR in police station I got many calls from her relatives that she wants to take her case back you compromise the case and both of you go for divorce. But later come to know that it was trapped with some planning to make harsh quarrels and defame us if we agree, and this call not from her or her parents.these people use third person to convince us to settle the matter.
Before filing charge sheet in court (7 days before) my father got call from one gundas and my wife from his phone that settle the case out side the court we will give you 10-15 lakhs, make divorce draft give her divorce. as well as he used abusive language about us, courts everyone. his statement is that you will face consequences in future, my people is around you. you will come to know later what will happen. if you not agreed you will get notice legally will drag you towards us. as per their statement we got notice from police that chargesheet will going to file in court and you should present in court. We came across that these incidents are pre-planned activity.Activity to assault us. we have filed NC on that person also.
My question is –
1.Police have filed chargesheet under CRPC 173(8) as well as requested in chargesheet to magistrate that if any evidence or witness observed allow us to amend in chargesheet. and this threaten call incident taken place when FIR is in police station. So police can include this things as a evidence in chargesheet as per procedure?
2.Police have rights to do investigation because these things related to my case
3. As per procedure, If police does not have right to investigate if chargesheet have been filed then we have to approach to magistrate or police can approach to magistrate for further investigation?
Note: Police (IO) ignoring my complaint right now.
Please suggest
videv says
May 10, 2019 at 4:35 pmYour complaint about the threats over that phone call WILL NOT be investigated by police under the 498A FIR by wife. Well actually, there is no reason why they cannot be investigated, BUT I’m saying it based on how Indian police handles matrimonial cases and how their attitude is towards any statement made by accused which can be in favour of accused – basically IGNORE!
The part about amending the 498A charge-sheet is only about taking additional statements from complainant and her witnesses, not from accused.
You will have to pursue your NC on those persons independently. If necessary, later you can try to approach court with a PCR (private complaint report). Based on your description, that unknown caller has said many things but he did not make a specific actual threat to harm you or your family, it is all indirect talk so it may not be taken seriously enough by police, or by court if you try for PCR. But it definitely fits into IPC 506 (criminal intimidation) at the least so you can read up on that and pursue based on that. The police should trace the owner of that phone number and find out more, if they don’t do it then they are abiding by the it’s-a-matrimonial-case-so-just-ignore-husband-unless-he-is-physically-injured-or-actually-dead approach followed by most of police in India.
farheen fatima says
October 20, 2018 at 4:26 pmhow to draft a legal notice directing the accused to show the source of documents filed by them?The complainant believes that it has been obtained illegally.
videv says
October 21, 2018 at 9:43 pmEven if it’s illegally obtained, evidence will be valid. You may file complaint to relevant authorities.
Rajesh says
December 20, 2017 at 4:10 pmThanks for this..really cleared my mind.
irfan says
November 8, 2016 at 12:58 pmHello Friends, My wife has premature Ovarian Failure which means ovary fails in the young age and she is impossible to get pregnant as she has no eggs in her ovaries and she will face lots of dangerous deceases like Bone weakness, Heart Attacks, Vaginal Dryness,Depression,Emotional Anger and mood Swings,No Interest in Sex, She get periods once in 7 months she is same like old lady 55 years. This decease occur either by birth or at the time of Maturity of the girl. At the time of marriage they have hidden this fact and cheated me
In short you can say she is as same as a granny with 55 years old.
Premature Ovarian failure symptoms are
Irregular or skipped periods (amenorrhea),
Hot flashes.
Night sweats.
Vaginal dryness.
Irritability or difficulty concentrating.
Decreased sexual desire.
I want the divorce and when i have spoke the same with her she is advising me to marry some poor girl with the Terms and Conditions of her.
My wife’s Terms and Conditions allow me for second marriage :
1.I need to give her the property worth 50 lakhs as her security of life.
2.Girl should not have parents, it means girl should be orphan
3.Girl should be from very poor family
4.Girl should live in the same house where my first wife also be part of , it means under same roof.
5.If at all the new wife gives birth to children, she needs one child completely.
6.And also she told that she will search the girl on her own no one should interfere, it means my wife will search as per her choice i should simply marry based on her conditions.
I have all the proofs like phone voices recording in which she is discussing and forcing me to accept the above conditions.
I have one more proof that her parents is also insisting me on this and i have the same phone recording.
I am Muslim and i am currently working in Saudi Arabia. my age is 29 and I want justice ,My wife is also threatening me that she is file the case on me like 498A.
My parents have filed a complaint in the Women police station yesterday.
I want to know what will happen further regarding my job and my parents ?? kindly Advice
videv says
November 8, 2016 at 10:11 pmMuslim personal law may have such possibilties, I am not sure. Other ideas are too fantastic to give a serious answer to.
But things like DV Act, CrPC 125, IPC 498A are applicable to all Indians irrespective of personal laws. So the same ‘granny’ wife might file DV case or IPC 498A on you once you bring back this second wife. In that case, the same advice is applicable as in articles and posts on this site.
Adv Fairoza Hashmi says
July 2, 2017 at 4:57 pmAs per muslim law you may divorce ur first wife. But u will have to pay life time maintenance to her. U r free to select a woman of ur own choice for remarry if she is also agree to marry with u,do not hide anything from her
KG says
February 17, 2016 at 7:23 pmAny idea what happens after you submit this kind of document
Also under which section this needs to be submitted.
videv says
February 20, 2016 at 1:28 pmI am assuming you’re reading this after a real DV or CrPC 125 case filed on you, and not just trying to increase General Knowledge.
To get up to speed, you may want to read my book: http://www.amazon.in/dp/B00VCA7YDS/ref=nosim?tag=menrigind-cm_mnt-21
>> Also under which section this needs to be submitted.
About section etc, leave it to the lawyer; that’s basic part of his/her job for the fees received from client. To fight effectively, we should learn how to use lawyers’ services, rather than trying to become lawyers ourselves (unless of course one is inspired to be).
Mandar Kanade says
January 13, 2016 at 1:34 amI really appreciate your work, experience advises & detailed guidelines.
You have cleared my mind out of confusion, as i was trying to get my wife & 3 years son back by doing the “C” types act.
I would just want to make one request to you is could you please also write somethings on how to mentally prepare yourself to defend/Win a DV CRpc 125 case. Also add some possibilities to retain the boy/girl child custody.
You are doing a great work for Men community. Keep it up, Thank you & god bless.
videv says
January 15, 2016 at 9:42 pm>> how to mentally prepare yourself to defend/Win a DV CRpc 125 case.
Decide on what’s more important: Self-Respect, or outward ‘respect’/Approval of others (wife, relatives, society etc).
If the choice is outward respect and approval of others, then the person is not really mentally prepared. He will try tricks, do silly things like filing RCR when he doesn’t really want wife back/quitting job etc.
If the choice of Self-Respect is clear, then most ground is already covered. Next step can be to interact with others in similar situation, and both share as well as listen. That requires person to let go of the stupid idea that his case is genuine /unique/special; as if he’s the only one facing these problems. Many people are stuck on this part too, they keep coming to MRAs with the grand idea of their own special/unique/genuine innocence, so in effect they are not facing reality; and at worse they feel other men are possibly evil/wrong-doers/criminals, but I’m the innocent/genuine/haven’t taken any dowry etc. Usually they do badly too in their own cases, because then the judge also is inclined to think that ‘others are criminals, I’m the judge’. The karma comes back at you in unseen ways.
arun says
November 12, 2015 at 9:53 pmSimple and understandable! Very informative…
Excellent job!
s s ubhi says
June 28, 2015 at 12:26 pmvery useful work indeed.