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Judgment
Heard the parties.
This Criminal Miscellaneous Petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. with the prayer for setting aside the order dated 23.03.2023 passed by the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh in Original Maintenance Case No. 67 of 2022.
The brief fact of the case is that the petitioners filed Original Maintenance Case No. 67 of 2022 in the court of Principal District Judge, Ramgarh and during the pendency of the said case filed a petition for interim maintenance of Rs.40,000/- that is Rs.20,000/- for the petitioner no.1 and Rs.20,000/- for the petitioner no.2 who is the minor son born out of the wedlock between the petitioner no.1 and the opposite party herein.
The learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh considered that the affidavit on asset and liabilities filed on behalf of the applicant no.1 which shows that the applicant no.1 is residing in the residence of opposite party which is S.D.P.O. residence Bijulia, Ramgarh and the petitioners admitted that the maintenance granted in Domestic Violence Act Case is being regularly paid by the opposite party herein. Considering the aforesaid facts of the case, the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh was of the considered view that the petitioners are getting monthly interim relief of Rs.7,000/- for the petitioner no.1 and Rs.3,000/- for the petitioner no.2 and it is unnecessary to grant another interim maintenance allowance and rejected the petition for interim maintenance. The learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh has recorded the conduct of the petitioner no.1 that at the time of hearing of the application of interim maintenance, the petitioner no.1 tried to create scene which was unbecoming of an educated person and also interfered with the court proceedings but the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh refrained by not taking any stern action against the nuisance created by the petitioner no.1.
It is pertinent to mention here that vide order dated 27.01.2026 in this case, the opposite party herein was directed to file supplementary affidavit of asset and liabilities for non-agrarian components as well as the agrarian components in the format mentioned in Enclosure-I and II as has been mentioned in the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Rajnesh vs. Neha reported in (2021) 2 SCC 324 within four weeks and the same has been filed.
The opposite party has categorically stated that he is not having any landed property and his gross monthly salary is Rs. 87,139/- and he is working as Deputy Superintendent of Police with State of Jharkhand.
It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh has erroneously rejected the prayer of interim maintenance. It is next submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh has failed to consider that maintenance proceeding is being delayed by the opposite party. Hence, it is submitted that the prayer as prayed for by the petitioner in this criminal miscellaneous petition be allowed.
Learned counsel for the opposite party on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer of the petitioners and submits that no illegality has been committed. It is next submitted by the learned counsel for the opposite party that the opposite party besides paying monetary relief by way of interim relief in the domestic violence proceeding of in total Rs.10,000/- for both the petitioner nos.1 and 2 and besides the opposite party has to pay Rs.5,000/- per month in the divorce case going on between the parties and additionally, the opposite party has also to pay Rs.2,000/- per appearance in the said divorce case over to the petitioner no.1 as a litigation expenses and over and above that the opposite party is paying monthly house rent of Rs.13,500/- for the accommodation occupied by the petitioners besides paying its electricity bill which comes to Rs.1,000/-approximately and further the opposite party is also paying Rs.1,50,000/- as yearly premium under the child plan for the petitioner no.2. It is further submitted by the learned counsel for the opposite party that the petitioner no.1 is also a well to do person and is a practising Advocate and she recently contested Jharkhand State Bar Council Election on depositing security amount of Rs. 1,25,000/- and hence, no illegality has been committed by the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh in rejecting the prayer for interim maintenance keeping in view the fact that the opposite party has to look after his depending parents and he has to bear an expense of Rs. 10,000/- per month regarding their maintenance. Hence, it is submitted that this criminal miscellaneous petition being without any merit be dismissed.
Having heard the rival submissions made at the Bar and after carefully going through the materials available in the record, this Court is of the considered view that considering the admitted monthly income of the opposite party of Rs.87,139/-, this Court is of the considered view that when the relationship between the opposite party and the petitioners is not denied, the petitioners will be entitled to a total monthly interim maintenance amount of Rs.35,000/- but that should include the amount of Rs. 10,000/- in respect of the proceeding under the Domestic Violence Act, the amount of maintenance and litigation expenses paid in connection with the divorce proceeding going on between the parties and also Rs.13,500/- per month paid by the opposite party towards the house rent and the electricity bill amount paid in respect of the said house on rent. The opposite party is given liberty to discontinue the child plan which he is claimed to have been paying.
In view of the discussions made above, the order dated 23.03.2023 passed by the learned Principal District Judge, Ramgarh in Original Maintenance Case No. 67 of 2022 is modified by granting a total interim maintenance of Rs.35,000/- per month i.e. Rs.20,000/- in respect of the petitioner no.1 and Rs.15,000/- in respect of the petitioner no.2 starting from the date of this order but it is made clear that this Rs.35,000/- interim maintenance awarded should include amount of Rs. 10,000/- paid in respect of the proceeding under the Domestic Violence Act, the amount of maintenance and litigation expenses paid in connection with the divorce proceeding going on between the parties and also Rs.13,500/- per month paid by the opposite party for the accommodation occupied by the petitioners and the monthly electricity bill amount paid in respect of the said house on rent and the remaining amount from ₹ 35,000/-per month after deducting the said amount shall be paid by the opposite party to the petitioners by transferring the same to the bank account of the petitioner no.1 on 10th of each succeeding month and besides the opposite party will file a statement by the 10th day of every month as to the details of the money paid to the petitioner no.1 in the preceding month which constitutes Rs.35,000/- in total.
In the result, this criminal miscellaneous petition is disposed of accordingly.