RAMCHANDRA JOIS Vs. RAJESHWARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under S. 482 of the Cr. P. C. i s directed against the order passed by the learned Presiding Officer, Fast Track court, Shimoga, dismissing the revision filed by the petitioner herein under S. 397 of the cr. PC. and confirming the order of maintenance passed by the trial Court.

(2.) THE facts in a nutshell are to the effect that the respondent herein and her grandmother filed a petition under S. 125 of the cr. P. C. claiming maintenance of Rs. 500/- per month to respondent-Rajeshwari on the ground that the said respondent was the child born out of the marriage between the petitioner herein and one Sukanya, the mother of respondent-Rajeshwari. It was the case of the respondent that the petitioner herein married said sukanya and out of their wedlock Rajeshwari was born and thereafter, as the petitioner herein belonged to a different community than that of Sukanya, the marriage did not last long and the petitioner thereafter left Thirthahalli and later on married one Vilasini and out of the said marriage, two children were born. In the meanwhile, Sukanya, mother of respondent-Rajeshwari also left the place and went on to eke her livelihood by working as an aya under a medical officer. Therefore, the maintenance petitiori was filed by the daughter and the mother of Sukanya.

(3.) THE said petition was contested by the petitioner herein by contending that the petitioner never married to Sukayna at any point of time and the child Rajeshwari, the respondent herein, was not the child born to the petitioner. It was also contended by the petitioner before the trial Court that no relationship of husband and wife existed between him and sukanya, mother of respondent-Rajeshwari, and, therefore, the respondent is not the daughter of the petitioner. Both parties led evidence in support of their respective stand and the learned Magistrate, after considering the evidence of P. Ws. 1 to 3 and the documents Exs. P-1 to P-3 placed on behalf of the petitioners before the trial Court and after considering the evidence of R. Ws. 1 and 2 and the documents exs. R-1 to R-10 placed on behalf of the petitioner herein, came to the conclusion that respondent-Rajeshwari is the daughter of the petitioner herein and accordingly, ordered maintenance at the rate of Rs. 500/- per month to be payable by the petitioner to the above said Rajeshwari. The said order of the trial court was questioned in the revision before the Fast Track Court at Shimoga in Crl. R. P. No. 192/2004 and the revisional Court dismissed the said revision by confirming the order of the Magistrate.