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Section 17 gives wife right to stay in a shared household.
Comment: The shared household is a very important concept as mentioned earlier too, and SC has given multiple judgments where it has said clearly that shared household cannot be taken to mean any place where wife stayed for a few days, for example at husbands' parents house. See judgments below:
Any house where husband and wife stayed for a few days would not become a shared household.\
Shared household Batra vs Batra - SC 2006
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Delhi HC denies right to reside in father-in-law's house.\
Wife not entitled to stay in father-in-law's house - Delhi HC 2014
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Above Delhi HC judgment upheld by SC too.\
Wife not entitled to stay in father-in-law's house - SC 2015
In practice it is seen that most women who file DV complaint are more concerned with the maintenance amount per month since they go by the adage that "cash is king". However, if your wife wants to harass you or for any other reason, she can actually claim to get residence in the house you are living in - whether own or rented - and can also ask for a separate room of her own which she will be permitted to keep under lock if she wants to. You going into that area of house can be construed as violation of protection order should your wife choose to complain (see Section 18 for protection orders).
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