SEW KUMHER Vs. MONGRU MONGRI KUMHARIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Rule was issued against an order of Sri A.C. Sarbajna, Magistrate, 1st Class, Sealdah for setting aside the order under Section 488 Cr. P. C. passed by him on the petitioner to pay maintenance at the rate of Rs. 50/- per month for his wife and children. The opposite party Monghri Kumharin was married to the petitioner Sew Kumher about 15 or 16 years ago and there was about five children of marriage of whom three are surviving. They are young children who were aged 7, 5 and 2 years, respectively, when the application under Section 488 Cr. P. C. was filed in December 1957. The opposite party's case was that the petitioner became unduly intimate with a woman named Lachhia and began to ill-treat her and thereafter she went away to her native village together with the three surviving children; and when she came back about 4 months before she filed an application under Section 488 Cr. P. C., she found that the husband, the petitioner, had married the woman Lachhia and was living with her. After the opposite party's return to Calcutta, the petitioner sent his second wife Lachhia to his native village, bat he continued to ill-treat the opposite party and beat her from time to time and did not give sufficient money for the maintenance of herself and her children. Accordingly, the opposite party filed an application under Section 488 Cr. P C. asking for maintenance of Rs. 50/- per month from herself and Rs. 20/- for each of the children or Rs. 110/- in all.

(2.) The petitioner contested the application denying that he had married Lachhia and alleging that the application under Section 488 Cr. P. C. had been filed by the opposite party under the influence of Bhagwan Das, brother of the opposite party, who had also induced the opposite party to give away her ornaments to him. According to the petitioner there was no reason for the opposite party for filing such an application for maintenance.

(3.) The learned Magistrate however was satisfied from the evidence adduced before him that the petitioner had married a second wife Lachhi and was not maintaining his wife and children properly and accordingly he passed an order for maintenance of Rs. 20/- per month for the opposite party and Rs. 10/- for each of the children or Rs. 50/-in all.