Srinwati Mukherji v State of Maharashtra and Ors. WRIT PETITION NO. 424 OF 2025 The Bombay High Court recently held that a flat/property still under construction and not in the possession of either of the spouses cannot be considered a "shared household" under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Hence, a husband cannot be compelled to pay installments for such a flat jointly booked by both spouses, the Court said. Justice Manjusha Deshpande was dealing with a plea filed by a woman seeking directions to her estranged husband to pay the pending installments for the flat. However, the Court found that the property lacked the essential elements required to invoke the protection under the Act. It observed that the statutory protection against dispossession under the DV Act is meant to apply only to premises that are both in existence and capable of occupation. “The prayer made by the Petitioner would not be maintainable since the property/flat, is still unde...