KOSTUBH DADHICHI ANSHU Vs. ADITYA JUNIWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dtd. 20/11/2023 [hereafter 'the impugned order'] passed by the learned Judge-02, Family Courts (South), Saket Courts, Delhi [hereafter 'Family Court'] in M. No. 256/2021, whereby her petition filed under Sec. 125 of the Cr.P.C. was dismissed on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. The petitioner seeks to assail the said order by way of this revision petition filed under Ss. 397/401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [hereafter 'Cr.P.C.'].

(2.) Brief facts of the case, as discernible from the material placed on record by either side, are that both the petitioner and the respondent were born and brought up in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Their marriage was solemnized at Arya Samaj Mandir, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. This marriage, as per petitioner, was solemnized in February, 2019, whereas the respondent claims that it was solemnized in April, 2019. The marriage was also registered in Ghaziabad. Eventually, another marriage ceremony, for the purpose of performing certain Hindu rites and rituals, took place on 10/7/2019 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The petitioner had thereafter joined her matrimonial home at Jaipur, and had lived with the respondent for about four months. In November, 2019, the petitioner had left her matrimonial home and returned to her parental home, which was also in Jaipur. The petitioner asserts that she was harassed by the respondent and his parents/family members, inter alia, for demand of dowry and thrown out of the matrimonial home. The petitioner had then initiated divorce proceedings, in the concerned Court at Jaipur, Rajasthan.

(3.) It is the petitioner's case that the family of the respondent is very influential and they had used every possible means to harass the petitioner, including filing false cases and getting FIRs registered against her, in order to harass her and her family members. To save herself from the actions of the respondent, the petitioner had shifted to Delhi and had started residing in a rented accommodation as a paying guest. On 16/8/2021, the petitioner had filed the petition under Sec. 125 of the Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance from the respondent. Reply to the same was filed by the respondent; followed by an application seeking dismissal of the said petition on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction.