TARUN KUMAR GADABAD Vs. SUBHALAXMI LENKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This present revision by the petitioner- husband is directed against the impugned judgment dtd. 14/7/2014 passed by learned Judge, Family Court, Khurda passed in Criminal Petition No.219/2012 directing the petitioner-husband to pay a sum of Rs.5,000.00 per month to OP No.1-wife and Rs.3,000.00 per month to OP No.2-son towards their maintenance w.e.f. the date of filing of the application under Sec. 125 CrPC.

(2.) In the course of hearing, Ms. Sumitra Mohanty, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that although the petitioner-husband is ready and willing to take back the OP-wife, but the OP-wife is reluctant to come to join the company of the husband and in fact, there is no allegation of cruelty against the petitioner-husband, but the learned trial Court, without taking note of the fact that the wife has refused to stay with the husband without any sufficient cause, has passed the impugned order directing the husband to pay the maintenance and, therefore, such order being untenable in the eye of law is required to be set aside. Further, Ms. Sumitra Mohanty submits that although the petitioner is required to pay the maintenance prospectively, but the learned trial Court has erroneously awarded and passed order directing the petitioner-husband to pay the maintenance w.e.f the date of filing of the application. On the aforesaid submission, Ms. Sumitra Mohanty, prays to set aside the impugned order.

(3.) After having considered the rival submissions upon perusal of the record, since there is no dispute about the relationship between the parties and the fact that the divorce application of the petitioner-husband has been refused by the learned trial Court which finding was confirmed by this Court in MATA No.79 of 2012 which was further confirmed in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.8270 of 2020 by the Apex Court and, therefore, this Court does not find any difficulty to hold that the petitioner and OP No-1 are husband and wife and there is dissention between the parties, but fact remains that once a relationship of marriage is found to be admitted and not dissolved by any competent Court of law, the husband being an abled body person and working in a Government employment is statutorily required to maintain his wife and children, even there is a dissention between the parties.