GOBBATINA VENKATESWARA RAO Vs. STATE OF A.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Revision Case is filed by the petitioner/respondent aggrieved by the order dated 9.2.2018 in Crl.M.P. No. 1078 of 2017 in M.C. No. 44 of 2014 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Avanigadda, committing the petitioner to civil prison for a total period of 4 months 24 days for his failure to pay arrears of maintenance to respondent/petitioner, who is his wife, for the period covering 26.10.2016 to 20.3.2017 i.e. 30 days of imprisonment for each months default. Pursuant to the said order, it is informed that the petitioner/respondent is lodged now in Sub Jail, Vijayawada.

(2.) The petitioner is in jail, this Court heard learned counsel for petitioner and passed the order without the necessity of ordering notice to respondent.

(3.) Referring to Section 125(3) Cr.P.C, learned counsel would submit that as per the said provision, for every breach of the order, the respondent in that proceedings may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or until payment if sooner made and since in the present instances, the respondent/petitioner filed the execution petition in respect of arrears of maintenance from 18.11.2014 to 18.2.2017 amounting to Rs. 54,000/- at once, the total default shall be taken as whole and imprisonment can be ordered only for one month but not exceeding the same by taking each months default. Instead the lower Court has ordered sentence of 30 days for each months default which is not authorized by law and hence the order of the lower Court is per se illegal. Learned counsel placed reliance on the judgments of this Court reported in Abdul Gafaoor @ Ashan v. Hameema Khatoon and others 2003 (2) ALD (Crl.) 902 (AP) and Lenka Adinarayana v. The State of A.P. and others 2016 (1) ALT (Crl.) 265 (A.P.) : 2016 (1) ALD (Crl.) 965 (AP).