TUKARAM RAMCHANDRA GATE Vs. GODAVARIBAI AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Application by the husband is directed against an order of maintenance recorded by the learned Sessions Judge, Parbhani in Criminal Revision Application No. 62 of 1993 arising out of Miscellaneous Criminal Application No. 29 of 1980 decided by the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Sailu on 29-3-1982.

(2.) The case of Respondent No. 1 Godavaribai in the lower Court was that she was legally married to present petitioner about twenty years back and she resided with him for a period of eight to nine years. As she did not deliver any child, Petitioner Tukaram started ill-treating her and finally he drove her out of his house and since then she was residing with her parents and no maintenance was provided to her. She further alleged that the Petitioner married a second wife named Gitabai about ten years back and that was the reasons for giving ill-treatment to her by her husband. She claimed to have gone to the house of her husband for residence, but he refused to accept her in his house. As the petitioner was serving as a ticket checker in the S. T. Department and was possessing about 30 acres of land, she filed this maintenance petition claiming maintenance at the rate of Rs. 200 per month.

(3.) This petition was resisted by the Petitioner vide his say at Exh. No. 11, in which he denied that present Respondent No. 1 was his wife. According to him, Gitabai was his wife and he has four daughters from her and as Respondent No. 1 was not his wife, she was not entitled to claim any maintenance from him. As regards agricultural land, he contended that he possessed only 81 Ares and was getting Rs. 575 per month as salary from the S. T. Department and as such he could not give any separate maintenance to Respondent No. I. This was the alternative plea raised by him in his say.