Sm. Swastika Sen vs The State Of West Bengal And Sri Pritam Sen (Defendent Argument)

Sm. Swastika Sen vs The State Of West Bengal And Sri Pritam Sen on 3/12/2002

JUDGMENT

M.K. Basu, J.

1. This revisional application under Sections 482 Cr.PC is directed against
the order dated 7.1.2002 passed by the learned SDJM, Alipur in Case No. M-244/01
pending before that Court under Section 125 CrPC rejecting a prayer for interim
maintenance of the petitioner and interim award of Rs. 1500/- per month on
account of the child till the hearing and disposal of the main petition. The
case of the petitioner is as follows.

She was married to the opposite party No. 2 Promit Sen according to Hindu
rites. On 18th June, 1998 soon after the marriage she was subjected to severe
mental and physical torture by the opposite party No. 2 and her in-laws. The
opposite party No. 2 was whimsical, selfish and irresponsible and he used to
abuse the petitioner and to pick up quarrel with her every now and then on
baseless and false accusations. She used to be constantly intimidated,
threatened and assaulted by the opposite party No. 2 on a number of occasions on
the ground of his dissatisfaction in respect of articles given by her parents
during their marriage. Ultimately she was sent by the opposite party No. 2 and
her in-laws to her parental home where she has been residing till now and the
expenses of her and her child's maintenance are being borne by her father. The
opposite party No. 2 neither care to bear any such expense nor paid any visit to
her father's house nor take any information about them. She has no independent
source of income. Under such circumstances she has filed the petition under
Section 125 Cr.PC in question claiming maintenance from the opposite party No. 2
on account of herself as well as the child who was born out of this wedlock. The
petitioner also filed a criminal case against the opposite party No. 2 and the
other in-laws under Sections 498A and 406 IPC which is in the Court of the
learned Magistrate being Jadavpur P.S. Case No. 190/2000. The Police after
investigation has submitted a charge sheet in that case against the opposite
party No. 2 and the other in-laws and that case is still pending in the Court of
SDJM, Alipur for trial. The opposite party No. 2 is a professional singer and is
the owner of an Export oriented Concern Style as M/s. Super Exports having its
office at Mission Road, Bangalore-56, He is also a major shareholder of M/s.
Super Plastic wherefrom he earns more than Rs. 1 1/2 lakhs per month. The
petitioner has 10% share in a Travel Agency Firm under this Style M/s. Capri
International which is owned by her mother but the form of business of that Firm
is absolutely uncallable and since July 2001 she did not receive any
remuneration from that firm in any manner. She has prayed for grant of
maintenance to the tune of Rs. 20,000/- per month for herself and Rs. 10,000/-
per month for the child.

2. The learned SDJM after hearing both sides and perusing a document filed by
both the parties passed the impugned order rejecting the prayer of the
petitioner for grant of interim maintenance and directing payment of Rs. 1500/-
per month by way of interim maintenance for the child. Being aggrieved by this
order the petitioner has preferred this revisional application challenging the
same as erroneous and unjustified being passed on the basis of vague surmises
and conjectures.

3. The contention of Mr. Basu, the learned advocate for the petitioner has
been that it is not understood wherefrom the learned Magistrate could draw the
conclusion that the petitioner was not a destitute lady and need not require any
maintenance. Mr. Basu has criticised the impugned order as improper and perverse
and his findings that the petitioner had some income of her own as totally
unwarranted. According to Mr. Basu, the learned SDJM has not given any reason
for coming to such finding and passing the impugned order and being a non-
speaking order it has been rendered liable to be set aside. In support of his
contention he refers to the decision

wherein it has been held that assigning of reason in an order passed by an
Administrative Authority or a judicial forum is of utmost importance and
necessity. This is so because giving of reason is the sine qua non of ajudicial
order and is a consequence of the principle of natural justice. Mr. Basu then
submits that the provisions of the Cr.PC having been amended by the Act No. 50
of 2001, a Magistrate is no longer required to keep the amount of maintenance
confined within the limit of Rs. 1500/- and in view of such Amending Act, the
limit is only reasonableness. According to him, considering the standard of
living of the parties and the rising price index in respect of the essential
articles which are being necessaries the learned Magistrate ought to have
awarded a much higher amount by way of maintenance for the child. So far as the
wife is concerned, according to Mr. Basu, she having no independent source of
income is entitled to get a reasonable amount of maintenance from the opposite
party No. 2 whose income has already been mentioned above. Mr. Basu refers to a
number of decisions of the Apex Court to bring home his point that the husband
is under a statutory duty to provide maintenance to his married wife and under
the shastric mandate also such an obligation has been cast upon the husband
irrespective of whether the wife has got any stridhan properties or even any
earnings. Mr. Basu's further contention is that in view of the Central Amendment
of Section 125 of the Cr.PC the limit of award of maintenance under the said
section need not be confined to Rs. 1500/- and the learned Magistrate is now at
liberty to award a higher amount if found justified or necessary. The question,
however, has been raised as to whether the said amendment has got any
retrospective effect, that is to say, whether the pending proceedings should be
governed by the same. Inasmuch as, it came into force with effect from 24th
September, 2001 when this proceeding had already been pending. Mr. Basu has
strenuously argued that such a beneficial legislation will have retrospective
effect and such pending proceedings will come under its purview. In this
connection he refers to the decision reported in (1) , (2) . (3) , (4)

AIR 1978 SC 741 & 1807, (5) AIR 1991 SC 1256 and (6) 2000 CCrLr (Cal) 179.

4. As against this, Mr. Gooptu, the learned advocate for the opposite party
No. 2 has argued that the petitioner cannot be entitled to get any award of
maintenance for herself, because she has an independent source of income, a fact
which is prima facie established from the document, namely, Income Tax Return
submitted by her before the Income Tax Authority and the learned Magistrate was
perfectly right refusing to award any interim maintenance at this stage after
being satisfied prima facie from the documents filed by the parties that the
petitioner having submitted Income Tax Return had definitely some source of
income of her own and in view of the legal position she could not be entitled to
get any maintenance from the husband. Mr. Gooptu draws my attention to pages 80
to 83 of the LCR. The Income Tax Statement pertaining to the Assessment Year
1999-2000. The next contention of Mr. Gooptu is that the amount of Rs. 1500/- as
awarded for the child would not be enhanced, inasmuch as, the amendment of
Section 125, Cr.PC as pointed out by Mr. Basu cannot have any retrospective
effect. In support of the contention he cites the following reference:

(1) (Y. Arul Nadar v. Authorised Officer, Land

Reforms, Thanjavur) wherein it has been held that as per the general rule
when an amendment is introduced in the statute governing the case already
pending, the rights and obligations of parties should be decided only according
to the law which existed when the action was begun unless a clear contrary
intention is evident in the Amending Act and there could not be any imputation
of retrospective operation to an Amending Act and that could be done only by the
Amending Act either expressly or by necessary implication; (2) (Bhagat Ram
Sharma v. Union of India and Ors.)

wherein it has been held that it is a matter of legislative practice to
provide while enacting an amending law that an existing provision shall be
deleted and a new provision substituted and such deletion has the effect of
repeal of the existing provision and such a law may also provide for the
introduction of a new provision. It bas been further held therein that amendment
is in fact a wider term and includes abrogation or deletion of a provision in an
existing statute and an amendment of substantive law is not retrospective unless
expressly laid down or by necessary implication inferred; (3) AIR 1924 All 563
(Kashmiri Lal v. Kishen Deb wherein it has been held that inasmuch as the
accused had incurred the liability to have his prosecution sanctioned and the
complainant on the dismissal of his application by the subordinate Judge had
acquired a right to apply for sanction to the Appellate Court, Section 6(sic) of
the General Clauses Act applied to the case and the repeal of the old Section
195 did not affect the investigation and (4) AIR 2000 Mad 167 wherein it has
been held that in case of Motor Vehicles Act being amended and each amending
provision providing for no fault liability cannot be given retrospective effect,
because if such retrospective effect was given, then it would definitely affect
existing right or obligation of the owner of the vehicle in question and the
insurer for no fault of theirs and it has to be decided in consonance with the
law as it stands on the day of its moving, since it is a matter pertaining to
procedure. It has been further held in this judgment that when two
interpretation are found possible regarding the question of retrospectivity, the
interpretation that the provision is prospective will be preferred.

5. Mr. Gooptu placing reliance upon the decision (Bhagban Dutt v. Sm. Kamala
Devi and Anr.) contends that a wife's right to maintenance is not absolute and
in determining the amount of maintenance a Magistrate is competent to take into
consideration the separate income and means of wife. Their Lordships in this
case have further observed that any other construction would be subversive of
the primary purpose of the section and encourage vindictive wives having ample
income and means of their own to misuse the section as a punitive weapon against
their husbands.

6. Mr. Gooptu then contends that Section 125 CrPC is not intended to provide
for a full and final determination of the status and personal rights of the
parties at the interim stage and the jurisdiction conferred by this eection on
the Magistrate is more in the nature of the preventive rather than a remedial
jurisdiction and it is certainly not punitive.

7. He then submits that his client is suffering from chronic thyroid problems
due to which he is undergoing medical treatment under the supervision of various
doctors and a large amount of money has to be mobilised in order to continue his
treatment and such facts are borne out from the medical documents annexed to the
written objection filed by this opposite party No. 2 before the trial Court and
due to such continued ailment and long absence from this city he is unable to
derive any income from his profession, namely, singing Rabindra Sangeet and
consequently he has to depend on others for his subsistence and medical
treatment as has been stated by him on oath in the affidavit.

8. Mr. Gooptu then refers to the decision

to bring home the point that when affidavits are submitted by the parties in
a proceeding for disposal of interim application under Section 125 CrPC, in the
event one version is rejected being untrue or not credible at the interim stage
pending trial, the other is to be accepted prima facie by the trial Court as
proved. Mr. Gooptu has further submitted that the Income Tax Statement of the
petitioner pertaining to the relevant year in question, that is, 2000-2001 has
not been produced before this Court, though the learned counsel of the
petitioner was so directed and on behalf of the petitioner the submission having
been made that no return has been filed by her for the subsequent Assessment
Year it should be taken that the petitioner having violated the mandatory
provisions of the law as she has not submitted the Income Tax Return for the
said Assessment Year, she is liable to serious penal consequences under the
Income Tax Act and the Indian Partnership Act.

9. The question for determination in this revisional application is whether
the impugned order suffers from any impropriety. By this order the learned
Magistrate has refused to grant any interim maintenance in favour of the
petitioner-wife, though he has allowed such maintenance for the child. The
ground on which her prayer for interim maintenance has been rejected appears to
have been couched in the following language.

"Some unproved documents are filed by both parties in the form of
affidavits and counter affidavits. These documents give some hints from which I
prima facie find that the 1st party has some income of her own ................
In view of the above discussed circumstances I think that the 1st party is not a
destitute lady required to be saved from vagrancy....."

10. Such a finding perhaps owes its origin to the existence of the Income Tax
Return (annexed to the affidavit) submitted by the petitioner, Swastika Sen, for
the Assessment Year 1999-2000, that is, for the period from 1.4.1998 to
31.3.1999. However, the learned Magistrate has not made it clear by using
express words and that omission has quite pertinently given rise to such a
criticism levelled by Mr. Basu against the order. This lapse may of course be
due to a poor power of expression on the part of the Magistrate concerned, but
the question which seriously arises is whether owing to such a reason, owing to
the Presiding Officer's inability to apply the appropriate words in the
reasoning part of his order which may be due to his poor expressive capacity,
the order should be thrown away, even though there are good grounds transpiring
from the materials on record justifying the passing of such an order.

11. Section 125(1)(a) CrPC clearly provides that a wife will be entitled to
get an award of maintenance, If, inter alia, she is unable to maintain herself.
It follows that if a wife is an employed person or has a business and earns a
definite sum by way of regular income and.if the Court finds such income as
sufficient for the purpose of enabling her to earn her livelihood, then
certainly she cannot claim maintenance from the husband. This is the clear
dictate of the law and a departure therefrom cannot be permissible. Otherwise,
the expression, "if she is unable to maintain herself' would lose all its
meanings. In the present case, the case of the opposite party-husband is that
the petitioner is a 50% partner of a Travelling Agency along with her mother
running in the name and style of M/s. Capri International and moreover, she is a
dance-teacher and her collective income from the aforesaid sources is not less
than Rs. 1,20,000/- per annum and this would be disclosed from the I.T. Return
submitted by her. A xerox copy of the I.T. Return submitted by the petitioner
before the Income Tax Authority for the Assessment Year 1999-2000 relating to
the period from 1st April, 1998 to 31st March, 1999 has been filed (vide page 80
of the LCR). This return shows that the gross income which she earned during the
said year from her business or profession amounted to Rs. 54,140/- and she paid
income tax of Rs. 414/- on this amount during that year. As against this, the
petitioner has stated in her counter-affidavit (vide page 68 of the LCR) that
the said Travel Agency has become sick industry and the petitioner only has a
share to the extent of 10% on the business of that Travel Agency and she gets
only Rs. 600/- per month. As regards the Income Tax Return purportedly filed by
her, her case is that she was forcibly made to sign this I.T. Return, although
she had no income of her own and she wrote a letter to the Income Tax
Commissioner dated 18.8.1999 stating that the I.T. Return in question had not
been submitted by her since she had no taxable income at all and she was a mere
student, but it was actually filed by her husband and further that the said
Return though filed does not reflect the correct position. A copy of this letter
bearing the stamp of the office of the Income Tax Commissioner initiating its
receipt by the officer has been filed. But this letter practically takes us
nowhere. Along with this Income Tax Return mentioned above statement that (sic)
has been submitted showing that the petitioner earned a gross income of Rs.
54,000/- and odd and paid income tax of Rs. 414/- and they included a balance-
sheet, self-assessment challan and a valuation return and the said Income Tax
Return appears to have been signed by the petitioner herself. It has got some
sanctity in the eye of law. As per the Income Tax Rule an assessee who starts
submitting Income Tax Return has to continue submitting such returns every year.
If she ceases to earn any income, even then she has to file a Nil Statement by
way of Return. Moreover, in her petition the petitioner's own case is that she
has 10% share in the said business and she earns only Rs. 600/- per month. In
such an event also she is required to submit a Income Tax Return although her
income may not be taxable. But curiously enough, the petitioner does not make
any whisper in her affidavits as to whether she has submitted any such Income
Tax Return in the subsequent years. During hearing of argument, on being
approached by me. Mr. Basu, the learned counsel submitted that his client would
not file any copy of such Income Tax Return before this Court relating to the
current year. It is not understood whether she has submitted before the Income
Tax Authority any such Income Tax Return at all during the current year or the
year in question because of her silence in her petition as to this aspect of the
matter. As a result, it is not clear as to whether any Return has at all be
filed, by her for the relevant year before the Income Tax Authority and
accordingly, as argued by the learned advocate for the opposite party, the
question of drawing adverse presumption arises. As per the Rule, once a Return
has been filed, one is required to go on submitting such Returns every year
irrespective of whether one's income has fallen or decreased. Under such
circumstances from the fact that the petitioner has not filed any such Income
Tax Return for the relevant year, not she has stated on affidavit that she has
not submitted any such Return before the Income Tax Authority for the relevant
year, it is to be presumed prima facie that she is witholding the same and . had
it been produced, sufficiently rebutted is a question of fact and cannot be
determined without reference to the evidence which may be adduced by the parties
during the inquiry to be held in the main proceeding.

12. At this stage when the question of payment of interim maintenance is
under consideration and the evidences are yet to be adduced by the parties such
documents and circumstances should serve as yardstick, only prima facie, to
enable the Court to come to a finding and pass an order touching the question of
interim relief. The question raised by the petitioner that the Income Tax Return
submitted by her was the result of force or coercion applied by her husband can
be decided only after taking evidence from both sides and cannot be adjudicated
upon at this stage simply on the basis of a copy of letter allegedly written by
the petitioner to the Income Tax Authority, particularly when such an allegation
does not find place in her affidavit. It would be unsafe and improper to hold
without taking evidence that the Income Tax Return filed by her before the
Income Tax Commissioner, which is an official and authentic document, is
falsified by a mere letter allegedly written by her to that Authority,

13. The Income Tax Return prima facie shows that she had an average income of
about Rs. 4500/- per month and in view of such earnings of the petitioner being
prima facie found from the record, the Court below was not unjustified in
refusing to award any interim maintenance for the wife so long as the main
matter as not heard and disposed of by obtaining evidence from the parties on
the prima facie substantial ground that she could not be said to be unable to
maintain herself during the interim period. However, the manner In which the
ordering part has been expressed by the learned Magistrate is not happy. Without
holding an enquiry he cannot come to such a finding, viz. "..... the 1st party
is not a destitute lady required to be saved from vagrancy." He ought to have
used the phrase, "prima facie" otherwise such an observation conveys a wrong
signal, as if he is disposing of the issue in the main proceeding once for all
-- a course which is fraught with the danger of prejudging of the issue which Is
to be decided after hearing of the main proceeding. It should not be forgotten
that interim orders in respect of such matters are only provisional until final
orders are made and such interim relief is granted only subject to what is found
and enjoined in the final orders and interim orders which are passed on a prima
facie satisfaction of the presiding officer of the concerned Court on the basis
of documents or affidavits may very well be altered, varied or even totally
vacated after considering the evidence both oral and documentary adduced by the
parties during hearing of the main matter.

14. It is true, as has been argued by Mr. Basu, that the learned Magistrate
has not assigned reasons for coming to his conclusions, for example, he has said
that the first party is found to have some income, but he does not discuss from
which documents he makes this observation, although the fact remains, as I have
discussed above, the petitioners drawing an Income regularly has been shown by
the document called Income Tax Return. Similarly, the learned Magistrate has
made the observations that from some 'unproved documents' it has been shown that
the lady was not a destitute person. Here again he ought to have elaborately
made a discussion about such documents which he was referring to. In the absence
of doing that his findings have been rendered unreasoned. Another instance of
the impugned order's being vague and confusing is where the learned Magistrate
uses the expression 'gives some hints'. Giving of hints and furnishing of proof
are totally different concepts and on the basis of the former a Court of law
cannot pass its verdict either granting or denying a relief sought by any party.
Then again, in the concluding part of his order he says that in view of the
'abovediscussed circumstances' he thinks that "the 1st party is not a destitute
lady required to be saved from variance". According to Mr. Basu, there is no
discussion on this point in the least in the body of the judgment and hence the
learned Magistrate's referring to the 'above discussed circumstances' is
absolutely hollow. He argues that due to such paucity of reasoning the order
becomes perverse and on that score alone it should be given a go-by. But this
contention of Mr. Basu is not acceptable to my mind. Simply because reasons have
not been assigned by the trial Court for arriving at a particular finding,
although from the materials on record it is prima facie found that there exist
some good grounds for drawing such conclusions, the said order cannot be set
aside on the sole ground that the Court below has not recorded such reasons or
grounds. This finding may or may not remain unaltered after evidence as adduced
by the parties are considered by the learned Magistrate during the main hearing,
but as an interim order it is quite justified. Since this part of the order does
not suffer from any illegality or infirmity of law I do not find anything to
interfere with the same.

15. The next point urged on behalf of the petitioner is relating to the
second part of the impugned order and is on the alleged inadequacy of the amount
of maintenance that has been awarded by the learned Magistrate on account of
maintenance of the child, namely, Rs. 1500/-. According to Mr, Basu, on the date
on which this order was passed, that is, 7th January, 2002 the amendment of the
CrPC in respect of Section 125(d) of the Code had already come into operation
and therefore, the learned Magistrate's hands were not tied and he was not to be
restricted regarding the quantum of maintenance to be awarded by him under this
section within an amount not exceeding Rs. 1500/-. In other words, since by
virtue of the said amendment a Court of Magistrate under this section became
entitled to award any sum by way of maintenance which would be deemed to be
reasonable in the circumstances, there was nothing to debar the learned
Magistrate from fixing an amount by way of maintained exceeding Rs. 1500/- in
order to do justice to the rising price and cost of living index and also to the
status and standard of living of the petitioner in particular. In support of his
argument Mr. Basu refers to a host of decisions of the Apex Court as well as of
different High Courts. Thus he cites the decision reported in AIR 1991 SC 1256
(Amirtham Kudumbah v. Sarnam Kudumban) wherein it has been held that in case of
a beneficial legislation whatsoever gives restriction use or constitutes an
embargo in the way of giving effect to such a welfare enactment should be
removed and according to Mr. Basu by stretching this logic to the present case,
the benefit of this amendment should be extended to the pending cases also. It
may be mentioned here that the above mentioned amendment came into operation on
and from 24.9.2001 (vide the Government Notification concerned). Mr. Basu also
refers to the decision wherein it has been held that

the words of remedial statute should be so construed as to ensure that the
relief contemplated under the status in the question may not be denied to the
clash intended to be relieved and on the basis of this ruling it should be taken
that the amendment of the CrPC in question should have retrospective operation
even though nowhere that has been mentioned in express terms. Then Mr. Basu
relies upon another ruling (Bengal Immunity Co. Ltd. v. State of

Bihar and Ors.) whereunder Their Lordships enunciated certain principles on
the strength of which propagated that ail beneficial status should be
retrospective operation. The next ruling cited by Mr. Basu is (Muktinarain Jha
v. State of

Bihar) and (Captain R.C. Kaushal v. Mrs. V. Kaushal) whrerein it was held
that the provisions of Section 125 formed a major of social justice for the
purpose of protection the weaker section and with that end in view, according to
Mr. Basu, any legislation containing beneficial provisions should have
retrospective operation.

16. The second line of Mr. Basu's argument consists in the point raised by
him that even if such a legislation is taken to be prospective, even then there
will be no difficulty In granting the relief at the new rate and at the same
time maintaining its prospectivity if with regard to a pending proceeding the
new rate is applied only on and from the date when the amendment takes effect.
In support of this contention he relies upon the decision reported in 1999 CCrLr
116 (Cal HC) and 2000 CCrLr (Cal) 179 (Dhananjoy Samanta v. Sobitri Samanta).

17. As against this, Mr. Gooptu vehemently argues that this petition for
maintenance having been filed on 13.4.2001 this amending provision which came
into effect on 24.9.2001 cannot govern this pending proceeding because of the
general principle that unless a clear, contrary intention is evident in the
amending Act, it cannot be retrospective and must be prospective. In support of
this contention, the decision (Y.A. Nadar v. The

Authorised Officer, Land Reforms, Thanjavur) is referred to wherein it has
been held that when an amendment is introduced in the statute governing the
cases already pending, the rights and obligations of parties should be decided
only according to the law which existed when the action was begun, unless a
clear and contrary intention is evident in the provisions of the amending Act
and there could not be imputation of retrospective operation to an amending Act.
He also cites a further couple of reported judgments to get his argument
strengthened, namely, (1) (Bhagat Ram Sharma v. Unions of India) & (2) AIR 1924
Allahabad 563 which I have already discussed above.

18. Mr. Gooptu raises the question that if the argument of Mr. Basu is taken
to its logical extreme, then by virtue of following of such a principle, namely,
giving retrospective effect to such an amending provisions we may be led to an
irreconcilable situation. Those cases which were filed before the coming into
operation of such a legislation, but which were pending at the time when it came
into operation and as disposed of without getting the benefit of this enactment
will be discriminated against and there may be the emergence of a spate of
applications seeking the newly awarded benefit-- an exigency which the law never
encourage.

19. Be that as it may, it should not be forgotten that after all this is an
application for interim maintenance and the main maintenance application is yet
to be heard. If this question, namely, whether the abovementioned amendment of
Section 125 CrPC should have retrospective effect or not is decided at this
stage, then that may involve the risk of pre-judging of the point falling for
determination in the main application under Section 125 CrPC before the learned
Magistrate. This is a stage wherein the question of granting of interim relief
is taken up for determination and for that purpose such thread-bare analysis of
the materials on record, vis-a-vis, the legal position will be highly
undesirable and also impermissible. The learned Magistrate has awarded a sum of
Rs. 1500/- on account of maintenance of the child by way of interim relief only
and that is not the be-all and end-all of the respective cases of the parties
and that amount has been fixed only as a provisional one in view of meet the
urgency of the situation and the proper and final order as regards all related
questions touching this application for maintenance will be passed by the Court
of Magistrate after taking evidence from both sides and after hearing their
arguments. Hence any observation or verdict given on the controversies raises by
the parties on the questions in issue at this stage will be bound to have
repercussions on the merits of the matter when the learned Magistrate will take
up the same for final hearing and in order to avoid such a possibility of pre-
judging of the issues awaiting determination by the learned Magistrate I refrain
myself from expressing my views on the contentions of the learned advocate for
both sides on this question as to whether the said amendment to Section 125 of
the CrPC in question will have retrospective effective or prospective operation
and (sic) the learned Magistrate could have granted an award of interim
maintenance for the child exceeding Rs. 1500/- a month.

20. Instead, I am inclined to fix a time-limit within which the main
proceeding under Section 125 CrPC in question may be finally disposed of by the
Court below, leaving the impugned order intact.

21. Accordingly, I do not interfere with the impugned order but I direct the
learned Magistrate to finally dispose of the main proceeding, that is, the
application for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC pending before it, within two
months from the date of receipt of the LCR without fail. If any of the parties
does not cooperate, the case may proceed according to law notwithstanding such
non-participation. While disposing of the main matter on merits the Court below
shall not be influenced by any observation made in this judgment regarding the
merits and shall adjudicate upon the same quite independently according to the
law and as per the evidence that may be adduced by the parties before him.

In the result, the revisional application be dismissed. The LCR be sent back
immediately to the Court below along with a copy of this judgment and order.

Interim order of stay, if there is any, be vacated.

Xerox certified copies, if applied for by any party, may be supplied without
delay.