1. A short but interesting question involved in this criminal reference is whether female children are entitled to grant of maintenance under Section 488 Cr. P.C. till they get married or their right to maintenance is restricted till they attain majority or are unable to maintain themselves whichever is earlier.

2. The respondent Mst. Dilshada Bano is the daughter of the petitioner Mala Sadiq. The respondent was living with her mother who has been divorced by the petitioner. The respondent filed an application under Section 488 Cr. P.C. for grant of maintenance in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Ganderbal in which learned Magistrate by his order dated 3.6.2002 awarded interim maintenance to the daughter-applicant.

3. The father non-applicant challenged the order of learned Magistrate in revision before the learned Sessions Judge under Section 435 Cr. P.C. And learned Sessions Judge has recommended to this Court under Section 438 Cr.P.C. for setting aside the order passed by the Magistrate. Learned Sessions Judge has not himself gone into the determination of the question involved in the case but has found the impugned order of the Magistrate untenable in law because Magistrate had not considered the question in the light of the amended provision contained in Section 488 Cr. P.C.

4. Before answering the question formulated above I feel it necessary to point out that learned Sessions Judge too has not fully complied with the provision under which he has acted in making this reference.

5. Section 435 Cr. P.C. vests jurisdiction and power with the Sessions Judge for calling the record of any proceedings in any inferior Criminal Court situated within the local limits of his jurisdiction for satisfying himself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any finding, sentence or order, recorded or passed and as to the regularity of any proceedings of such inferior Court. While exercising such power of revision a Sessions Judge is required thus firstly to go into the question of correctness, legality or propriety of an order, sentence or finding which is under challenge and then secondly to see whether such order has been passed by following the procedure prescribed by law because a proceeding can only be said to be regular if it is conducted according to the procedure prescribed by law. If upon such examination Sessions Judge becomes satisfied that any finding, sentence or order passed by the inferior court is incorrect, illegal or improper or if it is not so but has been passed without following procedure prescribed by law and in his view deserves to be set aside and does not fall within the ambit of Section 436 or 437 Cr. P.C, he is required by Section 438 Cr. P.C. to make a report (also called a criminal reference) to the High Court with his recommendations for orders. Section 438 Cr. P.C reads:-

"438. Report to High Court: -- (1) The Sessions Judge or Chief Judicial Magistrate may, if the thinks fit, on examining under Section 435 or otherwise the record of any proceeding, report for the orders of the High Court the result of such examination, and, when such report contains a recommendation that a sentence [or an order] be reversed or altered, and if the accused is in confinement, that he be released on bail or on his own bond.

(2) .........

(3) .........

(i) .........

(ii) ........

6. From the words "report for orders of the High Court the result of such examination......" it is manifest that reasons based upon such examination on which recommendation for setting aside an order of inferior criminal court is being made must also be stated in such report.

7. The validity or otherwise of the order of the Magistrate impugned before the learned Sessions Judge primarily depended on the answer to the question formulated here in this judgment. Learned Sessions Judge therefore ought to have addressed the same himself before making a recommendation for setting aside the same to this Court.

8. Be it so, the question involved is an important ques

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