(1) This revision application arises out of an order passed, by the learned Presidency Magistrate, 3rd Court, Bombay, refusing to direct recovery of the amount due under an order passed for maintenance in favour of the petitioner and her children under Section 488, Criminal P. C. The learned Magistrate has with some reluctance passed an order dismissing the application filed by the petitioner.

(2) The few facts which are necessary to understand the grounds on which the learned Magistrate has dismissed the application are these:-- The petitioner is the wife of the respondent. She filed an application in the Court of the Resident Magistrate, First Class, Kirkee Cantonment, Poona, for an order under S.488, Criminal P.C., for maintenance of herself and of her three children. On 19-11-1949, the learned Resident Magistrate passed the following order:

"I order that the respondent shall pay for maintenance of the applicant and her three children an amount of rupees one hundred under Section 488(1), Criminal P. C. and this allowance shall be payable from the date of this order as provided in Section 488(2), Criminal P. C."

Now, the order passed by the learned Resident Magistrate was an ir