An application for maintenance filed under Chapter IX cannot be dismissed for default as there is no implicit power granted to do so under the relevant provisions.

ORDER :

Can an application filed under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure be dismissed for default?

2. The revision petitioner, through his mother, had filed M.C.No.68/2022 before the Family Court, Pala, against his father ? the respondent ? under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (‘Code’ for short) for an order of maintenance. The revision petitioner has averred in the application that he was born on 1.4.2023 in the wedlock between the respondent and his mother. Due to the cruelty meted out to his mother by his father, his mother was compelled to leave the matrimonial home in her advanced stage of pregnancy with the revision petitioner. The respondent has willfully refused to maintain the revision petitioner since his birth. Hence, the revision petitioner was constrained to file the application for maintenance.

3. Along with the application, the revision petitioner had filed a miscellaneous application for interim maintenance. The Family Court allowed the miscellaneous application and ordered the respondent to pay the revision petitioner interim maintenance @ Rs.12,000/-per month. Yet, the respondent refused to pay maintenance, and the revision petitioner filed an application to execute the order. On 1.7.2023, when the application came up for consideration, the Family Court, by the impugned order, dismissed the application on the ground that there was no representation for the revision petitioner.

4. It is assailing the legality and propriety of the order; the revision petition is filed.

5. Heard; Smt. Anitha Mathai, the learned counsel appearing for the revision petitioner. Even though notice was served on the respondent, there is no appearance for him.

6. The revision petitioner is the minor son of the respondent. The revision petitioner has alleged that his father has refused to maintain him. The records reveal that the Family Court had directed the respondent to pay the revision petitioner interim maintenance. Still, he refused to comply with the order, and the revision petitioner had filed an application to execute the interim order. It was at that stage that the Family Court dismissed the application for default.

7. Chapter IX of the Code of Criminal Procedure, encompassing Sections 125 to 128, deals with orders for the maintenance of wives, children and parents. The Chapter is a Code in itself in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which defines a minor, a wife, the persons who are entitled and liable to pay maintenance, the grounds which entitle and disentitle a person from claiming maintenance, the procedure to deal with applications filed under the Chapter, alteration and the enforcement of orders passed under the Chapter etc.

8. The concept of “maintenance” covered by Chapter IX of the Code is deeply rooted in the principles of social justice to prevent the destitution of women and children, who fall within the constitutional sweep of Article 15 (3) and reinforced by Articles 21 and 39 of the Constitution of India. The Chapter aims to prevent the vagrancy of women and children, who are deserted into destitution, and to ensure their dignity is upheld in society.

9. In an illuminating judgment, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Bhuwan Mohan Singh v. Meena [(2015) 6 SCC 353] observed as under :

“2. Be it ingeminated that Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short "the Code") was conceived to ameliorate the agony, anguish, financial suffering of a woman who left her matrimonial home for the reasons provided in the provision so that some suitable arrangements can be made by the court and she can sustain herself and also her children if they are with her. The concept of sustenance does not necessarily mean to lead the life of an animal, feel like an unperson to be thrown away from grace and roam for her basic maintenance somewhere else. She is entitled in law to lead a life in the similar manner as she would have lived in the house of her husband. That is where the status and strata come into play, and