'Patriarchal Entitlement' cannot justify violence, says Delhi HC while denying bail to man accused of shooting wife

New Delhi [India], August 26 (ANI): The Delhi High Court has held that a husband cannot justify violence against his wife on the ground of anger or refusal to live with him, stressing that such a claim reflects "patriarchal entitlement" which the law cannot support.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while rejecting the bail plea of the husband, observed that accepting such arguments would amount to legitimising regressive notions that reduce women to subservience.
"Assertion of the wife to not be subjected to domestic violence cannot justify violence by a husband. To accept the plea of anger at the spur of the moment would amount to legitimising patriarchal entitlement, which is contrary to the intent of law," the court said.
The remarks came during the hearing of the husband's bail application in a case where he allegedly shot his wife in the abdomen outside Kalawati Saran Hospital in 2018 after she refused to accompany him.
The victim, a security guard at the hospital, survived the attack but required four surgeries during a month-long stay in the hospital.
Husband's counsel had argued that the incident occurred in a fit of anger and that he had no intention to kill, stressing that he fired only one shot.
The prosecution, however, highlighted his criminal record, the use of an unlicensed pistol, and evidence from witnesses and CCTV footage that supported the victim's account.
Noting the seriousness of the offence, the court said the marital relationship in such circumstances is an aggravating, not a mitigating factor. It dismissed the bail plea and directed the trial court to conclude proceedings within six months, given that the accused has already spent nearly six years in custody. (ANI)