A large share of domestic violence litigation is conducted between parties who no longer live in the same city — the wife back in her parental home, the husband working elsewhere in India or abroad. A practical question therefore dominates the early hearings: who must actually attend court, and when? The answer is more flexible than most litigants expect. This article explains the framework for appearance through counsel, exemption from personal appearance, and video conferencing in proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
The starting point: a civil proceeding in a criminal court
Although DV Act applications are filed before a Magistrate and processed under a criminal-procedure shell — Section 28 applies the Code\'s machinery, now the BNSS — the substance of the jurisdiction is civil and protective. The respondent is not an accused; there is no arrest on the filing of a Section 12 application, and the outcome is an order regulating conduct, residence and money, not a conviction. This character drives the appearance rules: courts require presence where it serves the proceeding — evidence, counselling, specific compliance — and dispense with it where it would merely burden the parties.
The three instruments of flexibility
Who benefits, and how
| Party | Practical position |
|---|---|
| Aggrieved woman living in another city | May file where she resides (Section 27) and seek VC participation for hearings that require her; her evidence can be scheduled to minimise travel. |
| Respondent employed in another State | Exemption plus counsel appearance for routine dates; physical presence reserved for evidence and court-directed stages. |
| NRI respondents | Vakalatnama executed and attested abroad; VC appearance is now routinely permitted, with physical appearance directed only when necessary. |
| Elderly or unwell family members arrayed as respondents | Exemption applications on medical grounds are usually allowed; in appropriate cases counsel can seek deletion where no specific role is alleged. |
Flexibility is not immunity. If a Magistrate directs personal appearance for a specific purpose — counselling, evidence, or compliance with an order — repeated absence can invite coercive steps, adverse inferences on interim applications, and in enforcement contexts the machinery that Section 28 imports. The discipline is simple: seek exemption formally, never assume it.
Drafting and strategy pointers
Apply early. File the exemption application with the first appearance, not after a bailable warrant question arises.
Offer VC proactively. Courts respond well to parties who propose workable VC participation instead of bare absence.
Coordinate with counselling. Section 14 counselling and mediation referrals are the stages most likely to need personal or VC presence; calendar them realistically.
Keep undertakings precise. An undertaking to appear "as and when directed" is the standard consideration for exemption — honour it scrupulously, because breach is remembered at every later stage, including interim maintenance and appeal.
The takeaway
The geography of modern families has changed faster than courtroom habit, but the law has kept pace: between counsel appearance, exemption and video conferencing, no party to a DV proceeding in Delhi should be litigating by aeroplane. The parties who fare best are those who regularise their absence formally and participate substantively — because in protective jurisdictions, engagement, not attendance, is what courts actually measure.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice or a solicitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is personal appearance mandatory in DV Act cases?
Not as a rule. Proceedings under Section 12 are predominantly civil in character — the reliefs are protection, residence, monetary orders and compensation — and courts ordinarily permit parties to appear through counsel. Personal presence is typically required at specific stages: evidence, mediation or counselling sessions directed under Section 14, and any hearing where the Magistrate specifically orders attendance.
How does a respondent living abroad participate?
Through a duly executed vakalatnama or power of attorney, an application for exemption from personal appearance, and video conferencing where testimony or interaction is required. Courts across the country — including in recent transfer matters — have expressly permitted respondents to attend DV and matrimonial proceedings by VC, requiring physical presence only when unavoidable.
What should an exemption application contain?
The reason for non-appearance (employment abroad or in another State, medical grounds, distance and cost), an undertaking that counsel will appear and that the party will remain bound by the proceedings, willingness to appear physically when the court so directs, and, where relevant, a request for VC participation with a functional email and contact number for the link.
Can evidence in a DV case be recorded by video conferencing?
Yes, subject to the court's directions and the applicable High Court VC rules. Delhi's courts operate under comprehensive video-conferencing rules that permit recording of testimony by VC with identity verification and coordinated logistics; the BNSS, 2023 also institutionalises electronic modes across criminal procedure, including appearance and evidence in appropriate cases.