This Criminal Miscellaneous Case filed under S. 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (for short 'the Code') was posted before us along with Criminal Miscellaneous Case No. 1861/1993 on the basis of a common reference order. The specific question referred to the Division Bench has been answered by us in Criminal Miscellaneous Case 1861/1993 by a separate judgment and need not be considered again in this case. As per the judgment in Criminal Miscellaneous Case 1861/1993, we have held that the provisions contained in S. 397(3) of the Code will not be a bar for invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under S. 482 of the code. In the light of the said judgment, it has to be held that this Criminal Miscellaneous Case is maintainable in law.

2. Facts, necessary to deal with the contentions on merit raised in the case. can be summarised thus : The 1st respondent is the divorced wife of the petitioner. She filed Maintenance Case No. 118 of 1989 in the Court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thalassery, under S. 3 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 (for short 'the Act'). In the petition, 1st respondent claimed (i) an amount equal to the sum of