The High Court of Jharkhand while setting aside a maintenance order whereby the petitioner was directed to pay Rs 4000/- per month as maintenance to the respondent observed that once the marital relationship is disproved, there cannot be any order of maintenance under section 125 of the CrPC.
Brief Facts:
The present petition was filed against the order passed by the Additional Principal Judge, Additional Family Court, Jamshedpur in an Original Maintenance Case under Section 125 Cr. P.C., whereby the petitioner was directed to pay Rs 4000/- per month as maintenance to the respondent.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the respondent is not the legally married wife of the petitioner and they never lived together in that relationship and it was submitted in support of the contention that the applicant had lodged Complaint Case No.850 of 2008 against petitioner under Sections 417 & 354 IPC on the allegation that petitioner had agreed for marriage on 06.04.2008, but when the complainant went for marriage with all the relevant documents, the accused did not turn up there.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the state submitted that there is a presumption of marriage when a couple live together and strict proof of marriage is not required to be proved by the applicant in the maintenance case.
Observations of the court:
The court first noted that the facts of the present case are different from the authorities relied upon and in the present case, the cloud is on the factum of marriage itself and there is a presumption of marriage where there is evidence that parties were living together but the said presumption is a rebuttable presumption.
Further, the court stated that in the present case, it is a definite case of the Applicant that she was married to the petitioner on 5.5.2005 and there are incontrovertible materials on record to show that she had filed c/1 No.850/2008 under Section 354 r/w 417 of the IPC, taking the plea that she lived together continuously for 4 years with the petitioner on a proposal of marriage, and on the said false promise of marriage he physically exploited the complainant and this case was filed in 2008 and therefore demolishes the case of the Applicant that she had been married to the petitioner in 2005. Further, the court stated that once the marital relationship is disproved, there cannot be any order of maintenance under section 125 of the CrPC.
The decision of the Court:
The court allowed the petition and set aside the impugned order.
Case Title: Ashok Kumar Singh @ Ashok Singh @ A. K. Singh vs State of Jharkhand and Anr.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary
Case No.: Cr. Revision No. 12 of 2022
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. L. C. N. Shahdeo
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. V. Roy and Mr. Vishal Kr. Tiwary
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
