S. Vimala, J.

1. "The only day in your life, when you cried, your mother was smiling" - meaning thereby, except at the time when the child indicates to the world that it has been brought into existence, by crying, the mother will not tolerate the cry of the child during rest of his life. This was the great salute to all the mothers when the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam defined 'Birth Day' to a query raised by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Matha, Pitha, Guru, Theivam, is the phrase admired and appreciated in Indian tradition as Matha (mother) occupies always the first position, in the order of priority in the list of persons to be worshipped.

2. This is a case, where one out of the two sons of the widowed mother, one of the sons (petitioner in M.C. No. 74 of 2012), viz. Elangovan, challenges the order of maintenance passed in favour of the mother directing the revision petitioner to pay a sum of Rs. 3,000/- to the mother by order dated 15.09.2014. The other son-Rajakumaran and daughter-Elamathy (widowed daughter) have been directed to pay a sum of Rs. 3,000/- and Rs. 5,000/- per month, respectively, to the mother.

3. The parties are described as per the nomenclature assigned to them in the Trial Court in M.C. No. 74 of 2012, for the sake of convenience.

3.1. Pondevaki, the mother, as petitioner, filed the petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. claiming maintenance of Rs. 21,000/- per month from her sons and daughter. Her husband late Ponraj had been employed in Central Co-operative Bank, Madurai and he died while he was in service on 14.03.1989. At the instigation of the maternal grandmother, the two sons did not maintain cordial relationship with their mother and she was driven out of the home along with the daughter. Retirement benefits were divided into five shares and one share was given to mother-in-law, Kannammal.

3.2. The revision petitioner agreed to rent-out the house and agreed to deposit the rental amount into the bank account of the mother. This agreement was complied with for a few months and later on it was not complied with. She was completely depending upon her daughter, Elamathy.

4. According to the mother, the first son was earning Rs. 1,00,000/- per month, the second son is a Software Engineer employed at Canada, earning more than Rs. 3,00,000/- per month. The mother claimed that she was not able to maintain herself and as she is under the mercy of her daughter and son-in-law, she must be paid sufficient maintenance.

5. The claim was contested by the Revision Petitioner alone and the other son, who was at Canada, remained ex-parte. The daughter consented for the grant of maintenance.

6. The claim was resisted on the ground that the mother did not give respect for the father and even while the father was alive; she took away all her belongings and got the daughter married to her brother Chandrasekaran; she did not evince any interest in respect of the two sons; the father died on 14.03.1989 on account of the departure of his wife from his house; the mother was interested only in grabbing the property; as she was causing disturbance to the possession of the house, the first respondent filed a suit in O.S. No. 1116 of 2011 seeking an order of injunction; the first respondent has also filed a suit for partition before the Principal Sub-Court, Madurai, in O.S. No. 960 of 2012, as the mother was claiming that she would execute documents in suppression of the right of respondents 1 and 2; she also caused impediment in the second respondent getting employment on compassionate ground; it was only the first respondent who was maintaining the paternal grandmother and his brothers; just because, the mother carried the child in the womb for ten months, she cannot attain the status as mother; motherhood lies in bringing the children in an appropriate way by laying foundation for the good future of the children; since the mother did not do anything, the maintenance petition has to be dismissed.

7. Bef