Act. S. 26 clearly clarifies that, petitioner is under an option to seek reliefs under Ss. 18 to 22 along with other reliefs in any pending proceeding instituted before or after introduction of the D.V. Act. The correct interpretation and the scope of S. 26 of the D.V. Act was the subject matter of decisions of various courts. In Smt. Kumari Behera v. State of Orissa; ((2010) 1 KLT OnLine 1102 (Ori.) : AIR 2010 Ori 68), it was held that, Family Court can grant any relief available under Ss. 18 to 22, if such reliefs are sought in a pending proceeding. However, for an independent proceeding seeking relief under Ss. 18 to 22, only concerned Magistrate has jurisdiction as per provisions of Ss. 26 and 27 of the D.V Act. This view was affirmed by the Division Bench of Orissa High Court in Brundaban Patra v. Rajalaxmi Patra; ((2011) 4 KHC 740). This was further explained in Ambreen Akhoon v. Aditya Aum Paudwal, ((2016) 1 KLT OnLine 2583 (Bom.) : 2016 Cri LJ 141). In that, Bombay High Court held that, S. 26 of the D.V. Act enables a party to seek relief available under Ss. 18 to 22 of the D.V. Act in any legal proceeding before the civil court or Family Court or criminal court affecting the aggrieved person, whether such proceeding was initiated before or after the commencement of the D.V. Act. It was held that sub-ss.(1) and (2) of S. 26 presupposes that, there should be a suit or legal proceeding pending before the Civil or criminal Court wherein the relief under the D.V. Act also can be sought in addition to relief. It was held that the scope of S. 26 of the D.V. Act was that, same relief under Ss. 18 to 22 can be the subject matter of any other proceeding pending before the Family Court along with other reliefs sought. This was explained by a learned Single Judge of this Court in Raju Narayana Swamy v. Beena M.D; ((2017) 1 KLT 661 : (2017) 1 KHC 607). It was clarified that the Family Court will have jurisdiction under the D.V. Act to grant relief to the victim of domestic violence, only if, there is an existing legal proceeding and the application under Section 26 of the Act seeking relief under sections 18 to 22 is filed in that proceeding.
