BANGALORE: The Karnataka high court on Tuesday ordered notice to both the state and central governments on a petition filed by CH Venkatakrishna, a resident of Kasargod in Kerala, challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.

Justice S Abdul Nazeer has also ordered notice to Lakshmi Bhat, a resident of Bangalore who also acts in TV serials. The petitioner, who got married in 1998 and has a daughter, claims that his wife demanded Rs 2 crore as compensation and had obtained an injunction from a magistrate court restraining him from alienating his properties in Kerala. He also claims that because of the provisions of the Act, he has to come to Bangalore court from Kasargod for hearing.

"A significant aspect of the matter is that the whole section of women is excluded from the purview of Act branding the men as the sole cause of domestic violence. Such a gender bias is apparent in Section 19 where it says that a woman cannot be removed from shared household. This is also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution as the same is gender biased. Protection is alone given to women and there is no protection to the abuses of wife. Hence, the provision under Section 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 of DV Act (relating to residence, protection, custody and other reliefs) are unconstitutional and are liable to be struck down," the petitioner has claimed.

