JUDGMENT :

S.K. Sahoo, J.

The petitioner Nihar Ranjan Dash who is the husband of the opposite party Smt. Sunita Sarangi has challenged the impugned order dated 22.07.2015 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri in Criminal Proceeding No. 144 of 2011 in rejecting the petition dated 02.02.2015 filed by the petitioner challenging the maintainability of the proceeding under section 125 of Cr.P.C. instituted against him by the opposite party on the ground of territorial jurisdiction.

2. It is case of the opposite party that she is the legally married wife of the petitioner and her marriage was solemnized with the petitioner on 22.11.2009 as per Hindi rites and customs at Bagala Dharmashala at Puri. At the time of marriage, as per the demand of the petitioner, cash of Rs.1,00,000/-(rupees one lakh) was given to him. The opposite party then stayed with the petitioner at Delhi where the petitioner was serving at Sriram Institute of Marine Study. It is the further case of the opposite party that the petitioner was a drunkard and keeping illicit relationship with his own maternal aunt and when she came to know about the same and protested, she was tortured physically and mentally and was not even provided with food. She was asked by the petitioner to bring Rs.5,00,000/-(rupees five lakhs only) from her father or else to search for a job for her and to pay her monthly salary to him. As she could not comply with the same, she was tortured and ousted from the house of the petitioner at New Delhi on 22.02.2010 and since then the opposite party came to reside at the village house of her father at Biswanathpur in Puri. The father and other family members of the opposite party several times approached the petitioner and his parents to take her back but they paid deaf ear to the request made.

3. It is the case of the opposite party that the application under section 125 of Cr.P.C. was filed by her before the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri while she was staying at her native village Biswanathpur in the district of Puri in the year 2011. Due to non-appearance of the petitioner at the time of hearing in the maintenance proceeding, he was set ex-parte on 03.05.2012 and ex-parte judgment was pronounced on 07.07.2012 directing the petitioner to pay maintenance to the opposite party from the date of filing of the petition.

The petitioner filed a petition under section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act for restitution of conjugal rights before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Saket, New Delhi which was registered as H.M.A. No. 250 of 2012 wherein the first address of the opposite party was mentioned at Biswanathpur which is the under of territorial jurisdiction of the Family Court, Puri. The opposite party filed a transfer petition before the Hon’ble Supreme Court which was registered as Transfer Petition (c) No. 1119 of 2012 for transfer of H.M.A. No. 250 of 2012 titled as ‘Nihar Ranjan Dash Vs. Sunita Sarangi’ pending before Family Court, Saket, New Delhi to the Family Court at Puri, Odisha and the transfer petition was allowed vide order dated 11.02.2013. After such order of transfer by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the case was registered as C.P. No.29 of 2013 in the Court of learned Judge, Family Court, Puri. The petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the petitioner was ultimately dismissed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri vide order dated 22.11.2014.

The opposite party filed Execution Case No. 210 of 2012 for recovery of arrear maintenance dues from the petitioner. The petitioner filed a petition under section 126(2) of Cr.P.C. to set aside the ex parte order of maintenance before the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri which was registered as Criminal Proceeding No. 228 of 2012 and vide order dated 17.11.2014, the ex-parte order of maintenance was set aside and Criminal Proceeding No. 144 of 2011 was restored to the status as on 03.05.2012.

4. The petitioner filed a petition on 02.02.2015 before the learned Judge, Family Court,