IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

*****

INDEX

IN

SUPPLEMENTARY AFFIDAVIT

IN

CIVIL MISC. WRIT (PIL) PETITION No. ….OF 2020 (Civil Nature)

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

(DISTRICT: Prayagraj)

Kiran Srivastava and others ……..…

Petitioners.

Versus

State of Uttar Pradesh and others

……..Respondents.

Sl. Particular Of Papers Date Annex. No. Page No. Fm |

No. To
1 Supplementary Affidavit &
ID.
2 Photocopy of the list of
appointment of protection
officers in various districts of
 Uttar Pradesh, released by
NATIONAL COMMISSION
FOR WOMEN.
3 Photocopy of the fact finding
report
4 Photocopy of the fact finding
report
 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
*****

SUPPLEMENTARY AFFIDAVIT On behalf of the Petitioners

C1IVIL MISC. WRIT (PIL) PETITION No. 1765 OF 2020 (Civil Nature)

(Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India)

(DISTRICT: Prayagraj)

1. Kiran Srivastava
Daughter of Dr. Sudhir Kumar Srivastava
B.A.LL.B, 3rd Year, C.M.P. Degree College, Prayagraj
R/o: 72, TilaknagarAllahpur.
District: Prayagraj.

2. SimranYadav
Daughter of Shree SantLalYadav
B.A.LLB, 3rd Year, RML(NLU)
R/O 5/3A T.B. Sapru Road, Civil Lines

3. Shabih Fatima
Daughter of Mr. HasanAsgharNaqvi
B.A.LL.B, 2nd Year, JamiaMilliaIslamia, New Delhi.
R/o:.467, Dariyabad.
District: Prayagraj
 …Petitioners.
Versus

1. State of U.P

Through its Principal Secretary(Social Welfare and Women

Empowerment)2

2. Director,
Prosecution,Lucknow

3. District Magistrate,
Prayagraj

…Respondents.

Affidavit of:Kiran Srivastava, aged about 19 years Son of Shree Sanjay Kumar Gupta,
Resident of House no. 233/35 2b Ashok Nagar Baba Chauraha, District Prayagraj,
(Deponent)

I, the deponent above named, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as
under:

1. That deponent is the petitioner number 5, in the aforesaid WP (PIL)(Writ

Petition Public Interest Litigation) as such he is fully acquainted with the
facts deposed to below:

2. That the aforesaid PIL was filed by a group of law students for the
appointment of separate Protection Officer under section 8 of the Protection
of Women from the Domestic Violence Act (2005), in each and every
district of Uttar Pradesh state, to deal efficiently and expeditiously with
 increasing number of domestic violence cases and to protect the rights of
women, the very objective with which the act was enacted.
1. That the language of section 8 of the Act shows the importance of the post
of Protection Officers (POs) in dealing with domestic violence cases as the
provision has not restricted the number POs but says the number of POs
appointed by the state, should be as many as required and in the light of the
fact that the Uttar Pradesh is topping the list of states with highest cases of
crime against women reported which is 11,872 and alone accounts for the
50% of the reported case, the duty of the state to provide relief to the women
who are victims of domestic violence, is of utmost importance and needs
such officers who are completely devoted and dedicated to eradicate the
sufferings of domestic violence victims. A photocopy of the relevant extract
of the annual report (2018-19) of by National Commission for Women is
hereby annexed with Annexure No.1 to this affidavit.
3. That in the latest data released by National Commission for Women,
amongst all nature of crimes reported against women, category of cases of
domestic violence were second on the list forming 22.3% of all the crimes
against women alone, therefore full fleged, separate protection officers need
to be appointed who have no other responsibility of any other post but to
solely work as a separate protection officers who deal only and only in the
matter of domestic violence. A photocopy of the relevant extract of the
annual report (2018-19) of by National Commission for Women is hereby
annexed with Annexure No.1 to this affidavit.
4. That the Government has delivered the charge of Protection Officer to
senior officers who already have other responsibilities. And those officials
who are appointed as Protection Officers, are unaware about their
responsibility.” the mechanism for dealing with the domestic violence cases,
is not properly working. The District Probation Officers holding the
additional post of Protection Officer in the state are not working up to the
mark. Hence, the major rectification needed is that government should
appoint separate Protection Officers for domestic violence. A separate PO
 will concentrate on the responsibilities allotted to him. A photocopy of the
list of appointment of officers who have been designated as Protection
Officers in districts of Uttar Pradesh, as released by National Commission
for Women for the year 2021 is Annexed as Annexure Number S-A1 of
this affidavit.
5. That the domestic violence act is very beneficial for the victims and the
Protection Officers so appointed by virtue of section 8 of the act in each
district of the state, are not carrying separate post, hence very lenient about
their work. They handle the cases just as a work and not to show their
performance to help someone. This is clearly evident from the fact that
under the survey conducted by the petitioners in which emails were sent on
the official email ids of the POs, (Ids in the document annexed with
annexure no…..) so as to enquire into the their functioning in dealing with
domestic violence cases and to know their opinion regarding the difficulty
faced by them while carrying additional duties, there was not even a single
reply to the questions put. And to our surprise even many official ids were
wrong. A photocopy of fact finding report is herein Annexed as Annexure
Number S-A1 of this affidavit.
6. The abovementioned facts clearly show that how insensitive and apathetic
the state is towards the rights and dignity of women that it has been 15 years
since the enactment of the act and it has not considered it proper to appoint
separate Protection Officers who are fully dedicated to help the victim and
eradicate the problem of domestic violence.
7. That the petitioners also visited few districts of Prayagraj and the problem
remains the same as follows-
 No separate Protection Officers for dealing with domestic
violence cases.
 Officers appointed as POs being lenient and show lack of interest
towards solving the problems of victims who are subject to
domestic violence.
  Due to overburdening of responsibilities and duties of other jobs the
officers were not able to focus on domestic violence cases that need
an urgent attention with Uttar Pradesh recording the highest number
of cases of crime against women reported in which domestic
violence is 2nd on the list of nature of crime. A photocopy of fact
finding report finalized on …….is herein Annexed as Annexure
Number S-A1 of this affidavit.

8. That Women are the soft targets for domestic violence, but 89 per cent
Protection Officers are male and just 11 percent are female. Separate
Protection Officer (PO) should be recruited by the government to reduce
domestic violence. Majority of POs are male but victims are females, hence
government should recruit female PO‟s for the benefit of female victims. A
photocopy of fact finding report finalized on 5.01.2021 is herein Annexed as
Annexure Number S-A1 of this affidavit.
9. That the Protection of women from domestic violence act (2005) is a social
welfare legislation therefore should be interpreted in a purposive manner
which would effectuate the object of the welfare legislation.

Conclusion- through online survey conducted by the petitioners in which google

forms were sent to each POs appointed in every district of Uttar Pradesh to know
their functioning as POs and difficulties faced by them due to additional post
carried by them. To our surprise officers carrying such important responsibility
were so insensitive towards their work that only 2 out of 85 officers responded to
the emails sent. and visit made to District Probation Office