MALAN Vs. BALASAHEB BHIMRAO GAWADE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner filed Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 62 of 1982 in the Court of the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Jaysingpur, under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, for maintenance against the first respondent. Her case was that the first respondent married her on 16th June, 1977 which was a love marriage but the said marriage was not approved by the parents of the first respondent and, therefore, right from the first day of the marriage, the first respondent failed and refused to maintain her. She claimed that the first respondent was having irrigated land and earned about Rs. 5,000/- to 6,000/- per year and, therefore, she should be granted Rs. 300/- per month as separate maintenance for herself.

(2.) The application was resisted by the first respondent. It was his case that on 16th June, 1977 when he was proceeding towards a temple called "Muchundi Daryappa" he was accosted by some of the relations of the petitioner and was caught hold of and forcibly got married against his wishes with the petitioner. Thus, he pleaded that the contract of marriage between him and the petitioner was null and void as it was not entered into out of his free and genuine consent.

(3.) The learned trial Magistrate recorded the evidence adduced by both sides and on appreciation of the same came to the conclusion that the marriage between the petitioner and the first respondent was not legal as the first respondent was forced to marry the petitioner and as such the petitioner was not the legally wedded wife of the first respondent and hence she was not entitled to maintenance under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He accordingly dismissed the petitioners application for maintenance by this judgment and order dated 16th October, 1984.