A divorced wife retains the right to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code unless she remarries or can sustain herself independently.

JUDGMENT

Date : 30-09-2020

1. The Court proceedings have been conducted by means of creating a Virtual Court with the help of technology.

2. This criminal petition has been preferred by the petitioner, namely, Sri Bijoy Seal, under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 , seeking quashment of the Judgment and Order dated 12.07.2012, passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Dibrugarh in Criminal Revision No. 03(1)/2012. The petitioner and the opposite party, namely, Smt. Sefali Seal were husband and wife were married on 02.05.1995.

3. Because of differences which arose between them, the petitioner and the opposite party started to stay separately since the year 2004. The wife/opposite party filed an application under Section 125 Cr.P.C., claiming maintenance from the petitioner/husband @ Rs.5,000/- per month. The case was registered as Case No. 01M/2004 before the Court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dibrugarh. The learned Court of learned Additional CJM, Dibrugarh by order dated 06.07.2006 on contest allowed the petition and directed the petitioner/husband to pay maintenance allowance @ Rs.1,200/- from the date of filing of the maintenance petition i.e. 19.01.2004 according to the English Calendar month. The husband was directed to pay the same by the 7th of the following month. Thereafter, in the year 2008 the husband under Section 127 Cr.P.C filed a petition under Section 127 before the Court of learned Additional CJM, Dibrugarh. By the said petition under Section 127 , the husband, namely, the petitioner herein prayed for variation of the earlier Order dated 06.07.2006 passed by the learned Court and to reduce the maintenance allowance from 1,200/- to Rs.500/- per month. The grounds urged in the petition filed under Section 127 by the husband (petitioner herein) were the substantial loss of income and financially hardship. The petitioner further referred to a divorce case being Title Suit(D) Case No. 3/2004 filed, in the meantime, between the parties which was pending before the learned District Court, Dibrugarh at the relevant point of time when the petition under Section 127 was filed. It was further urged by the husband that by order dated 20.07.2005, passed in Misc.(J) Case No. 49/2004 under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, an amount of Rs.1,200/- was also directed to be paid to the wife by the learned District Judge, Dibrugarh as maintenance pendent lite. Under such circumstances by the petition under Section 127 , the husband sought for reduction of the maintenance from Rs.1,200/- to Rs.500/- per month.

4. The wife (opposite party herein) contested the case by filing the written objections.

5. In the meanwhile, the divorce case being Title Suit(D) No. 3/2004 was decreed in favour of the husband by the Judgment and Order dated 12.11.2009, passed by the District Judge, Dibrugarh, for dissolution of the marriage between the wife and the husband. By the said judgment, the marriage was dissolved by decree of divorce under Section 13 (1)(i-a) and (i)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 . In the said suit decreed one of the issues framed by the learned District Judge, Dibrugarh was “whether the allegations brought by the petitioner are true? If any, whether these allegations amount to cruelty and desertion?”

6. The learned District Judge by the said judgment decreed the title suit granting divorce by holding as under:-

“From the materi