A court order for asset disclosure under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. is justified to ensure transparency in maintenance proceedings.

ORDER

The petitioner is before this Court seeking the following prayer:

"a. Wherefore, the Petitioner herein prays that this Honb'le Court be pleased to issue a writ in nature certiorari or any other writ or direction quashing the order dated 1.12.2020 i.e. Annexure- A, passed by the Learned Family Judge Bangalore upon the Application under section 91 of Code of Criminal Procedure in C.Misc No 635 of 2019 and pass such order or direction that this Hon'ble Court deems fit to pass in the facts and circumstances of the case.

b. That this Hon'ble Court be pleased to quash and set aside the entire proceedings being the C. Misc 635 of 2019 i.e. Annexure-B pending before the Principal Judge Bangalore."

2. Heard Sri Dinesh D. Tiwari, learned counsel for Sri.Siddharth B. Muchandi, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. Spoorthy Hegde Nagaraja, learned counsel appearing for the respondent.

3. Brief facts that leads the petitioner to this Court, as borne out from the pleadings, are as follows:

The petitioner and the respondent are husband and wife who get married on 20.06.2014. The relationship between the two turning sore, has resulted in plethora of proceedings against each other. The husband instituted proceedings for dissolution of marriage before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Mumbai and the wife had instituted several proceedings both in Mumbai and Bengaluru. The present proceeding arises out of an order passed by the concerned Court at Bengaluru in Crl.Misc.No.635/2019.

4. Crl.Misc.No.635/2019 is instituted by the wife invoking Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance from the hands of the husband. In the said case, the concerned Court directs filing of an affidavit regarding assets and liabilities of both the husband and wife on or before 03.01.2022. This is directed in the teeth of the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of RAJNESH V. NEHA1 which directed filing of assets and liabilities statement in proceedings where interim maintenance was sought by the wife either under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. and under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The order which directed filing of assets and liabilities statement is what drives the petitioner to this Court in the subject petition.

5. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would contend with vehemence that the respondent-wife has instituted several proceedings only to harass the husband and the proceedings now challenged which is instituted under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. suffers from want of bonafides and therefore, the entire proceedings should be annulled and towards that prayer, has sought stay of further proceedings in the said Crl.Misc.No.635/2019. Learned counsel would lay emphasize upon the fact that the husband and wife reside in Mumbai and all proceedings are instituted in Mumbai, the wife flying from Mumbai to Bangalore has generated jurisdiction for herself in instituting these proceedings.

6. Learned counsel appearing for the respondent-wife would seek to refute the submissions to contend that the husband was the first to initiate divorce proceedings in Court at Mumbai which is transferred by an order of the Apex Court to the Court at Bengaluru and in those proceedings the wife has instituted proceedings under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. and both are being heard together. Therefore, the submission of the learned counsel is without substance. He would further contend that the filing of assets and liabilities statement is imperative in the light of the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of RAJNESH (supra).

7. I have given my anxious consideration to the resp