The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 gives a Magistrate a menu of civil reliefs: protection orders, residence orders, monetary relief, custody orders and, under Section 22, compensation orders. The compensation order is the least understood of these. It is not maintenance under another name; it is a distinct remedy directed at the injuries — physical and psychological — that the domestic violence itself has caused. This explainer sets out what Section 22 covers, how it sits alongside monetary relief under Section 20, and how such claims are framed and decided in the Delhi courts.
Where Section 22 sits in the scheme of the DV Act
An application under Section 12 of the DV Act can seek one or more of the reliefs the statute provides. Each relief answers a different problem. The protection order under Section 18 restrains further acts of violence; the residence order under Section 19 secures the right to reside in the shared household; monetary relief under Section 20 meets expenses and losses; custody orders under Section 21 deal with children. Section 22 then adds that the Magistrate may, on an application, pass an order directing the respondent to pay compensation and damages for the injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress, caused by the acts of domestic violence.
The provision is deliberately wide. It uses both words — compensation and damages — and expressly reaches injuries that leave no physical mark. In substance it imports a tort-like remedy into a summary statutory proceeding before a Magistrate, sparing the aggrieved person a separate civil suit for damages.
Compensation and monetary relief compared
Section 20 — monetary relief
Directed at expenditure and loss: loss of earnings, medical expenses, loss caused by destruction or removal of property, and maintenance for the aggrieved person and children. It is need-based and quantifiable, and can be interim or final.
Section 22 — compensation
Directed at the injury itself: physical hurt, mental torture, emotional distress. It is assessment-based rather than need-based, ordinarily granted at the final stage once domestic violence stands established on the record.
The two operate cumulatively. An aggrieved person who has been maintained under an interim order may still receive compensation at the end of the case; conversely, a compensation award does not discharge the respondent's maintenance obligations.
What must be established
- A domestic relationship as defined in Section 2(f) — marriage, a relationship in the nature of marriage, consanguinity, adoption, or joint family living;
- Acts amounting to domestic violence under Section 3 — physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse;
- A causal link between those acts and the injury for which compensation is sought; and
- Material assisting the court on quantum — the duration and gravity of the abuse and its effect on health, dignity and livelihood.
Because the DV Act proceeding is governed by its own summary procedure, evidence is usually led by affidavit with cross-examination. Contemporaneous material carries weight: medical and counselling records, complaints to the police or a Protection Officer, photographs, messages, and the Domestic Incident Report where one exists.
How Delhi courts approach quantum
There is no tariff. Courts weigh the nature of the abuse, its persistence over time, the presence of children who witnessed it, the aggrieved person's own earning position, and the respondent's means. An order that is punitive rather than compensatory risks being set aside in appeal, so the assessment is anchored to the injury proved. Where the respondent's income is disputed, the affidavit-of-assets discipline that governs maintenance proceedings in Delhi applies with equal force, and adverse inferences can follow from concealment.
Practice note: A Section 22 claim should be pleaded distinctly in the Section 12 application, with its own paragraph describing the injuries and their effect. Applications that fold everything into a single omnibus maintenance prayer often leave the compensation claim unaddressed in the final order — and an unpleaded claim is difficult to resurrect in appeal.
Enforcement and appeal
A compensation order is enforced like other monetary orders under the Act: Section 25 permits alteration on a change of circumstances only for certain orders, and failure to pay can be pursued through the Magistrate, including by attachment. Either side may appeal to the Court of Session under Section 29 within thirty days. In appeal, the Sessions Court examines both the finding of domestic violence and the reasonableness of the amount, but appellate interference on quantum alone is uncommon where the Magistrate's assessment is reasoned.
The takeaway
Section 22 turns the DV Act from a purely protective statute into one that also repairs. For the aggrieved person, it means the psychological cost of abuse can be recognised in money terms without a separate civil suit. For respondents, it underlines that DV proceedings are not only about monthly maintenance: a reasoned compensation award, once sustained in appeal, is a decree-like liability. Both sides are best served by treating the Section 22 claim as a serious, evidence-driven head of relief rather than a boilerplate prayer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is compensation under Section 22 the same as maintenance?
No. Maintenance and monetary relief under Section 20 address ongoing needs and quantifiable losses — food, shelter, medical expenses, loss of earnings. Compensation under Section 22 addresses the injury itself, including mental torture and emotional distress. A Magistrate can grant both in the same proceeding, and one does not reduce or replace the other.
Can compensation be claimed for mental cruelty alone, without physical violence?
Yes. Section 3 of the DV Act defines domestic violence to include verbal, emotional and economic abuse, and Section 22 expressly speaks of compensation for mental torture and emotional distress. Physical injury is not a precondition, though the aggrieved person must still establish that domestic violence occurred.
How is the amount of compensation fixed?
The Act prescribes no formula. Magistrates assess the nature, gravity and duration of the abuse, its effect on the aggrieved person, the respondent's financial capacity, and the overall circumstances of the parties. Detailed pleadings and supporting material — medical records, counselling records, contemporaneous complaints — assist the court materially in the assessment.
Can a compensation order be passed at the interim stage?
Interim orders under Section 23 are ordinarily used for monetary relief and residence protection, which address immediate needs. Compensation for injury is generally assessed at the final stage, after evidence, because the court must first record a finding that domestic violence took place and gauge its impact.