India, July 6 -- In a significant ruling on the interpretation of the Domestic Violence (DV) Act, the Bombay high court has held that an under-construction flat cannot be considered a "shared household" under the law, and therefore, a man cannot be compelled to pay its balance cost to secure his estranged wife's right of residence.

Justice Manjusha Deshpande passed the order on Friday while dismissing a petition filed by a 45-year-old woman from Goregaon. She had sought directions to her estranged husband, a 55-year-old software engineer working in the US, to pay the remaining instalments of a Rs.3.52-crore flat in Malad West booked in their joint names.

The court noted that since the possession of the flat had not been handed over and ...