FUNCTIONS OF PROTECTION OFFICER UNDER PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

Protection Officer plays a critical role under provisions of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Section 8 deals with appointment of Protection Officer.

8. Appointment of Protection Officers: (1) The State Government shall, by notification, appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary and shall also notify the area or areas within which a Protection Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred on him by or under this Act.

(2) The Protection Officer shall be as far as possible be women and shall possess such qualifications and experience as may be prescribed.

(3) The terms and conditions of service of the Protection Officer and the other officers subordinate to him shall be such as may be prescribed.

Under this Section, State Government has been empowered to appoint such number of Protection Officers as may be necessary and also notify their area of jurisdiction. Such protection officers as far as possible have to women. Qualification and experience of the protection officer has been prescribed by Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006. Rule 3 reads as under:

3. Qualifications and experience of Protection Officers.—

(1) The Protection Officers appointed by the State Government may be of the Government or members of non-governmental organizations: Provided that preference shall be given to women.

(2) Every person appointed as Protection Officer under the Act shall have at least three years experience in social sector.

(3) The tenure of a Protection Officer shall be a minimum period of three years.

(4) The State Government shall provide necessary office assistance to the Protection Officer for the efficient discharge of his or her functions under the Act and these rules.”

The State Government can appoint any of its officer as protection officer. The State Government can also appoint any member of the non-government organization as protection officer. Women have to be given preference in appointment of protection officers. Any such person appointed as protection officer has to have at least 3 years experience in social sector.

Role of protection officer is critical to implementation of this Act. Despite that in many states adequate number of protection officers have not been appointed. Many of the protection officers are appointed on contractual basis and timely salary are not being paid to them. In such scenario protection officer will not be able to discharge their functions properly. The High Court of Gujarat has an occasion to consider the status of protection officers in State of Gujarat in Suo Motu vs. State of Gujarat and Ors.; (2013)2GLR1047. The High Court has observed as under:

21. We have noticed having gone through the provisions of the Act that the Protection Officer plays an important role in proper implementation of the Act. Neither the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 nor the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 permit the State Government to make any contractual appointments of Protection Officers for 11 months. In fact, Rule 3(3) says that the tenure of a Protection Officer shall be for a minimum period of three years. In our opinion, the contractual appointments of 11 months and less could be termed as contrary to the provisions of the Act. It is, therefore, imperative that the State Government completes the process of regular selection of Protection Officers for all districts in the State as early as possible. A Protection Officer has to be of a particular level and caliber. Having regard to the duties and functions of the Protection Officers, as provided in the provisions of the Act as well as the Rules, preference as provided in Rule 3 of Rules, 2006 should be given to the women and such person appointed as Protection Officer is expected to have at least three years experience in the social sector. In our opinion, it is only when a person is appointed as a Protection Officer on regular basis with regular salary that he would work with all sincerity and dedication.

22. We are also of the opinion that the State Government should have in place a proper system of man power planning to assess the needs of each district. For example, the materials on record indicate that districts like Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Vadodara, Sabarkantha, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Junagadh are the ones, where more than 100 applications in seven months have been received starting from January, 2011 till July, 2012. Conversely, districts like Navsari, Patan, Narmada, Surendranagar, Porbandar have received less than 25 applications in the period referred to above. Thus, in busy districts, one Protection Officer is simply not enough. To have one Protection Officer in a district like Ahmedabad, where more than 800 applications have been received in last 7 months, is nothing but a mockery of the Act. Therefore, the need of the hour is that the Government assess the needs of each district and accordingly, appoint adequate number of Protection Officers in each district to receive and attend the complaints in time.

23. We are also of the opinion that the State Government must ensure that the office of the District Social Defence Officer is provided with necessary staff and infrastructural facilities like furniture, computers, etc. This would only be in consonance with Rule 3(4) which provides that the State Government shall provide necessary office assistance to the Protection Officer for the efficient discharge of his or her functions and duties under the Act and the Rules.

24. The office of the Protection Officer is a statutory post. The Protection Officers under Sec. 30 of the Act are deemed to be Public servants. Therefore, like any other Government Servants, they should be entitled to pay-scale of appropriate rank with other allowances and service benefits as admissible to Government servants. The Act of 2005 being a benevolent piece of legislation and the Rules requiring preference to be given to women for appointments as Protection Officers, the State Government should ensure that labour turnover is not high in this area. One of the ways to ensure this, is to pay adequately to the Protection Officer.

9. Duties and functions of Protection Officers- (1) It shall be duty of Protection Officer –

(a) to assist the Magistrate in the discharge of his functions under this Act;

(b) to make a domestic incident report to the Magistrate, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, upon receipt of a complaint of domestic violence and forward copies thereof to the police officer in charge of the Police Station within the local limits of whose jurisdiction domestic violence is alleged to have been committed and to the service providers in that area;

(c) To make an application in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed to the Magistrate , if the aggrieved person so desires, claiming relief for issuance of a protection order;

(d) To ensure that the aggrieved person is provided legal aid under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) and make available free of cost the prescribed form in which a complaint is to be made;

(e) to maintain a list of all service providers providing legal aid or counselling , shelter homes and medical facilities in a local area within the jurisdiction of the Magistrate;

(f) to make available a safe shelter home, if the aggrieved person so requires and forward a copy of his report of having lodged the aggrieved person in a shelter home to the police station and the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the shelter home is situated;

(g) to get the aggrieved person medically examined ,if she has sustained bodily injuries and forward a copy of the medical report to the police station and the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the domestic violence is alleged to have been taken place;

(h) to ensure that the order of monetary relief under section 20 is complied with and executed , in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)

(i) to perform such other duties as may be prescribed.

(2) The protection officer shall be under the control and supervision of the Magistrate, and shall perform the duties imposed on him by the Magistrate and the Governement by, or under the Act.

Protection officer has been fastened with a number of duties under this Section and Rules 8,9 and 10 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006. Under this Section, the protection officer has been assigned following duties:

• The protection officer has to assist the magistrate in discharge of his functions
• The protection officer has to submit domestic incident report to the magistrate
• The protection officer has to make applications before the magistrate on behalf of aggrieved person
• The protection officer has to assist the aggrieved person in getting legal aid under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987
• The protection officer has to maintain a list of service providers for providing legal aid and counseling services, shelter homes and medical facilities
• The protection officer has to make available safe shelter home to aggrieved person
• The protection officer has to get the aggrieved person medically examined if she has sustained bodily injuries
• The protection officer has to ensure that monetary relief granted under Section 20 of this Act is complied with
• The protection officer has to provide such other duties as may be prescribed.

DUTIES OF PROTECTION OFFICER UNDER RULE 8

Under Rule 8 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 certain duties have been imposed on the protection officer. Rule 8 reads as under:

Duties and function of Protection Officers – (1) It shall be the duty of the Protection Officer

(i) To assist the aggrieved person in making a complaint under the Act, if the aggrieved person so desires;

(ii) To provide her information on the rights of aggrieved persons under the Act as given in Form IV which shall be in English or in vernacular local language;

(iii) To assist the person in making any application under section 12 or subsection (2) of section 23 or any other provision of the Act or the rules made there under ;

(iv) To prepare a “Safety Plan” including measures to prevent further domestic violence to the aggrieved person, in consultation with the aggrieved person in Form V, after making an assessment to the dangers involved in the situation and on an application being moved under section 12;

(v) To provide legal aid to the aggrieved person , through the State Legal Services Authority;

(vi) To assist the aggrieved person and any child in obtaining medical aid at a medical facility including providing transportation to get the medical facility;

(vii) To assist in obtaining transportation for the aggrieved person and any child to the shelter;

(viii) To inform the service providers registered under the Act that their services may be required in the proceedings under the Act and to invite applications from service providers seeking particulars of their members to be appointed as Counsellors in proceedings under the Act under sub section (1) of Section 14 or Welfare Experts under Section 15;

(ix) To scrutinize the applications for appointment as Counsellors and forward a list of available Counsellors to the Magistrate;

(x) To revise once in three years the list of available counsellors by inviting fresh applications and forward a revised list of Counsellors on the basis thereof to the concerned Magistrate;

(xi) To maintain a record and copies of the report and documents forwarded under sections 9, 12, 20,21, 22, 23 or any other provisions of the Act or these rules;

(xii) To provide all possible assistance to the aggrieved person and the children to ensure that the aggrieved person is not victimized or pressurized as a consequence of reporting the incidence of domestic violence;

(xiii) To liaise between the aggrieved person or persons, police and service providers in the manner provided under the Act and these rules;

(xiv) To maintain proper records of the service providers, medical facility and shelter homes in the area of his jurisdiction.

(2) In addition to the duties and functions assigned to a Protection Officer under clauses (a) to (h) of subsection (1) of section 9, it shall be the duty of every protection officer –

(a) To protect the aggrieved person from domestic violence, in accordance with the provisions of the Act and these rules;

(b) To take all reasonable measures to prevent recurrence of domestic violence against the aggrieved person in accordance with the provisions of the Act and these rules.

Under the Rule 8 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2006, following duties have been imposed upon the protection officer:

• The protection officer has to assist the aggrieved person in making a complaint under the Act
• The protection officer has to provide information to the aggrieved person about her rights as given in Form IV of the Act. Form IV of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 consists of details of nature of domestic violence in form of physical violence, sexual violence, verbal and emotional violence, economic violence. It also has details of various reliefs under the Act including reliefs under section 18, 19, 20 and 22. It also has details of services provided by service providers.
• The protection officer has to assist the aggrieved person in making application under Section 12 or Sub-Section 2 of Section 23 or any provision of the Act. Under Section 12 an aggrieved person or protection officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person can present application for reliefs under the Act to the magistrate. Under Sub-Section 2 of Section 23, an aggrieved person can file application for ex parte order under Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, Section 21 or, as the case may be, Section 22.
• The protection officer has to prepare “Safety Plan” in Form V in consultation with the aggrieved person after making the assessment of dangers involved in the situation. Form V is an extensive form which consists of details about domestic violence i.e. physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, sexual abuse and economic abuse. It also consists of details regarding consequences of domestic violence faced by the aggrieved person. It also consists of details about apprehensions of the aggrieved persons.
• The protection officer has to provide legal aid to the aggrieved person through the State Legal Services Authority. State Legal Services Authority is an entity established under Section 6 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1986 to provide free legal services to eligible persons Women are eligible to get legal services under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1986.
• The protection officer has to assist the aggrieved person and any child in getting medical aid at medical facility and to assist the aggrieved person in providing transportation to get medical facility.
• The protection officer has to assist in obtaining transportation for the aggrieved person and any child to shelter homes
• The protection officer has to inform the service providers for requirement of their services under the Act and to invite applications from service providers seeking particulars of their members to be appointed as counsellors under Section 14 or welfare expert under section 15. Under Section 14, the magistrate is empowered to direct the respondent or the aggrieved person, singly or jointly, to undergo counselling. Under Section 15, the Magistrate is empowered to secure the services of the welfare expert.
• The protection officer has to scrutinize the application for appointment as counsellors and forward a list of available counsellors to the magistrate.
• The protection officer has to revise once in three years the list of available counsellors by inviting fresh applications and forward a revised list of counsellors to the concerned magistrate.
• The protection officer has to maintain a record and copies of the report and documents forwarded under Section 9, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23 or any other provision of this Act or these rules.
• The protection officer has to provide all possible assistance to aggrieved person and children to ensure that the aggrieved person is not victimized or pressurized as a consequence of reporting the incidence of domestic violence.
• The protection officer has to liaise between the aggrieved persons or persons, police and service provider in the manner provided under the Act and these rules.
• The protection officer has to maintain proper records of service providers, medical facility and shelter homes in the area of his jurisdiction.

Additional duties have been assigned to the Protection Officer under sub-rule 2 of Rule 8 as under:

• The protection officer has to protect the aggrieved persons from domestic violence, in accordance with the Provisions of this Act and these rules.
• The protection officer has to take all reasonable measures to prevent recurrence of domestic violence against the aggrieved person, in accordance with the provisions of the Act and these rules.

DUTY OF PROTECTION OFFICER UNDER RULE 9

Rule 9 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 imposes certain duties upon the protection officer in cases of emergency. Rule 9 reads as under:

9. Action to be taken in cases of emergency- If the Protection Officer or a Service Provider receives reliable information through e-mail or a telephone call or the like either from the aggrieved person or from any person who has reason to believe that an act of domestic violence is being or is likely to be committed and in such an emergency situation, the Protection Officer or the Service Provider, as the case may be, shall seek immediate assistance of the Police who shall accompany the Protection Officer or the Service Provider, as the case may be, to the place of occurrence and record the domestic incident report and present the same to the Magistrate without any delay for seeking appropriate orders under the Act.

There are situations wherenin urgent actions are required to address the incidents of domestic violence. Urgent actions have to be taken by protection officer and service providers in emergency situations under Rule 9 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006. If the protection officer or the service provider receives reliable information through e-mail or a telephone call or any other source either from aggrieved person or any person, protection officer or service provider has to seek immediate assistance of police. In such emergency situations, police is bound to accompany the protection officer or the service provider to place of occurrence of domestic violence. Protection officer has to record domestic incident report and without any delay has to forward the same to the magistrate for seeking appropriate orders under the Act.

DUTIES OF PROTECTION OFFICER UNDER RULE 10

One of the duties of the protection officer is to assist the magistrate under this Act. Certain duties in respect of assisting the magistrate have been provided under Rule 10 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006. Rule 10 reads as under:

10. Certain other duties of the Protection Officers: (1) The Protection Officer, if directed to do so in writing , by the Magistrate shall-

(a) Conduct a home visit of the shared household premises and make preliminary inquiry if the Court requires clarification , in regard to granting ex parte interim relief to the aggrieved person under the Act and pass an order for such home visit;

(b) After making appropriate inquiry, file a report on the emoluments, assets, bank accounts, or any other documents as may be directed by the Court;

(c) Restore the possession of the personal effects including gifts and jewellery of the aggrieved person and the shared household to the aggrieved person;

(d) Assist the aggrieved person to regain custody of children and secure rights to visit them under his supervision as may be directed by the Court;

(e) Assist the court in enforcement of orders in the proceedings under the Act in the manner directed by the Magistrate ,including orders under Section 12, Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, Section 21, or Section 23 in such manner as may be directed by the Court;

(f) Take the assistance of the Police, if required, in confiscating any weapon involved in the alleged domestic violence.

(2)The Protection Officer shall also perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by State Government or the Magistrate in giving effect to the provisions of the Act and these rules from time to time.

(3 )The Magistrate may, in addition to the orders for effective relief in any case, also issue directions relating general practice for better handling of the cases to the protection officers within his jurisdiction and the Protection Officer shall be bound to carry out the same.

Under Section 10 of this Act, the protection officer has been assigned additional duties, which the protection officer can only do, if she has been directed to do so in writing by the magistrate. Such duties are as under:

• If the magistrate passes order for home visit in regard to ex parte interim relief, the protection officer has to visit shared household and make preliminary inquiry and after making preliminary inquiry file report on the emoluments, assets, bank accounts or any other documents as may be directed by the Court.
• If the magistrate directs, the protection officer has to restore the possession of the personal affects including gifts and jewellery of the aggrieved person and shared household to the aggrieved person.
• If the magistrate directs, the protection officer has to assist the aggrieved person to regain custody of children and secure rights to visit them under his supervision as may be directed by the Court.
• If the magistrate directs, the protection officer has to assist the Court in enforcement of orders in the proceedings under the Act in the manner directed by the magistrate, including orders under Section 12, Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, Section 21, or Section 23.
• If the magistrate directs, the protection officer has to take the assistance of the police, if required, in confiscating any weapon involved in the alleged domestic violence.

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