ORDER :

M. Seetharama Murti, J.

1. The unsuccessful respondent in GWOP No. 1 of 2014 on the file of the Court of the learned X Additional District Judge, Gurazala, filed this civil revision petition, under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, being aggrieved of the intermediary order, dated 24.7.2018, passed by the said learned Judge in the afore-stated GWOP.

2. I have heard the submissions of Dr. Challa Srinivasa Reddy, learned Counsel, appearing for the revision petitioner/respondent, (hereinafter, 'respondent'), and of Ms. T.V. Sridevi, learned Counsel for the respondent/petitioner, (hereinafter, 'petitioner'). I have perused the material record.

3. The introductory facts, in brief, are as follows:

The petitioner filed the afore-stated GWOP for appointing him as natural guardian of a minor girl, Pokuri Neeraja, and for granting the custody of the said girl to him, he being the father of the said girl. The respondent, who is the maternal grandfather of the said girl, is resisting the said OP. During the course of trial, when the petitioner was being examined as PW 1, the learned Counsel for the respondent confronted his previous deposition (PW 1's previous deposition) in MC No. 25 of 2012 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate of First Class-cum-I Additional Junior Civil Judge, Gurazala, and requested the Trial Court to mark a portion of the said deposition viz., examination-in-chief, inter alia, contending that a party like the respondent is entitled to cross-examine the petitioner like PW 1 with respect to his previous statements made on oath before a competent Court and that such witness can be contradicted by drawing his attention to the contents of his earlier deposition and that the earlier deposition can be used for the purpose of contradiction. Learned Counsel for the petitioner opposed for such marking of a portion of the deposition. The Trial Court by the impugned order refused to grant permission to mark the portion of his (PW 1's) earlier deposition viz., chief-examination in MC No. 25 of 2012 wherein he was examined as RW 1. The Trial Court in the concluding portion of the order, which is impugned, held verbatim as follows:

'The proper course would be to cross-examine PW 1 on the basis of his previous statement given in a judicial proceeding and to cite him attention to relevant portion of his evidence and then mark the entire document as exhibit but not only a portion of earlier statement which is not contradicted. nor admitted since PW 1 did not give a perfectly satisfactorily explanation, in such event portion in the previous statement which would otherwise be contradictory would no longer to go to contradict or challenge the testimony of witness....'

Aggrieved of the orders of the learned Trial Judge, the respondent filed this revision before this Court.

4. Learned Counsel for the revision petitioner-respondent in the OP, while reiterating the contentions of the respondent, which were advanced before the Court below, contended as follows:

PW 1 figured as a witness in MC No. 25 of 2012 and gave evidence as RW 1. The said MC is a previous proceeding between the same parties, that is, the petitioner and the respondent in the instant OP. The respondent herein is the maternal grandfather of the girl child. After the death of the mother of the child, he is taking care of the girl child and looking after her welfare. In the said MC, he (PW 1 herein) admitted in his cross-examination that he is not having sufficient means and that he is dependent upon his parents. During the course of his cross-examination in this OP a portion of his said previous deposition related to the above aspect was sought to be confronted to him for being marked as a contradiction. Though such a portion of the deposition of the witness can be marked for the purpose of contradicting the witness, after drawing the attention of the witness to that portion of the earlier deposition, the Trial Court erroneously declined to grant the request f