ORDER

This Criminal Petition is filed aggrieved by the order passed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Ranga Reddy, at L.B.Nagar in Crl.M.P.No.234 of 2023 in M.C.No.235 of 2022 dated 18.01.2024 where under the learned trial Court directed the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.25,000/- per month to respondent Nos.1 to 3 till the disposal of the main M.C.

2. Heard Sri G.Srinivas Yadav, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent No.1.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the learned trial Court, passed the impugned order directing the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.25,000/- per month to respondent Nos.1 to 3. Respondent Nos.1 to 3 have filed M.C. No.235 of 2022 claiming the very same maintenance. The learned trial Court awarded Rs.25,000/- by way of interim maintenance without assigning any reasons and passed a cryptic order, which is contrary to law. Hence, the impugned order passed by the learned trial Court is liable to be set aside.

4. Having considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and upon perusal of the material available on record, it reveals that respondent Nos.1 to 3 filed M.C. No.235 of 2022 on the file of the learned Judge, Family Court, Ranga Reddy District, on 21.10.2022 against the petitioner, claiming maintenance of an amount of Rs.25,000/- per month and other reliefs, invoking the provisions of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Along with the said M.C., respondent Nos.1 to 3 also filed Crl.M.P. No.234 of 2023 seeking grant of interim maintenance by invoking the provisions of Section 125(1) of Cr.P.C. The trial Court allowed the said application on 18.01.2024, directing the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.25,000/- per month to respondent Nos.1 to 3 till the disposal of the main M.C.

5. The petitioner approached this Court and filed the present criminal petition after a lapse of more than two years. Though under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’)/Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short ‘Cr.P.C.’) there is no prescribed time limit, the party ought to have approached the Court within a reasonable time. In the memorandum of grounds of the criminal petition, the petitioner has not explained any reason for the said delay. Hence, this Court is not inclined to entertain the present criminal petition in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 528 of the BNSS. At this juncture, learned counsel for the petitioner requested this Court to direct the learned trial Court to dispose of the main M.C. on the ground that pleadings are completed and the matter has ripened for trial.

6. Taking into consideration the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the learned Judge, Family Court, Ranga Reddy District at L.B. Nagar, is directed to dispose of M.C.No.235 of 2022 as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, uninfluenced by any of the observations made in the order dated 18.01.2024 in Crl.M.P. No.703 of 2024 in M.C. No.235 of 2022 or in the present order. It is made clear that the parties in lis shall cooperate with the trial Court for disposal of M.C.No.235 of 2022 without seeking undue adjournments.

7. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is disposed of.

Miscellaneous applications, pending if any, shall stand closed.