I.A. Ansari, J.

1. For setting aside an order passed ex parte in a maintenance proceeding under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short, 'the Code'), whether an application has to be made, under the proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 126 of the Code, within three months from the date of the making of the order of maintenance or within three months from the date of the knowledge of such an order is the moot question, which the present revision has raised for determination by this Court.

2. Before I come to the real controversy raised in the present revision, some material facts, which gave rise to the present revision, may be noticed as follows:

The opposite party herein made, as second party, an application, under Section125 of the Code, claiming maintenance from the first party, i.e., the Petitioner herein. This application gave rise to Misc. Case No. 180/2001. On 15.11.2001, an order was passed, in the said maintenance proceeding by the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (Sadar), Mangaldoi, directing issuance of notice to the second party. In course of time, the process server submitted a report, dated 24.7.2002. According to this report, notices could not