ANAYAT ALI Vs. ZAITOON BIBI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALLOWING Zaitoon Bibi and her two minor sons Mukhtar Ali and Karamat Ali's Application under Section 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, learned Judicial Magistrate First Class (Special Railway Magistrate), Jammu directed Anayat Ali-petitioner, a Forest Guard, to pay Rs.1,700/- to Zaitoon Bibi, his wife, and Rs.1,500/- to Mukhtar Ali and Karamat Ali, each, his sons, till they attained majority, as maintenance, vide order dated 04.12.2009.

(2.) LEARNED Magistrate passed the maintenance order recording that Zaitoon Bibi and her two minor school going sons were living separately from Anayat Ali who was putting up with his second wife. It further came to the conclusion that Anayat Ali's plea of having divorced Zaitoon Bibi, taken at the time of final hearing of the Maintenance Application, had not been proved and was even otherwise untenable as he had not honoured his offer, made during the pendency of the proceedings, to maintain Zaitoon Bibi. During the course of the proceedings before the learned Magistrate, the petitioner did not dispute his liability to pay maintenance to his minor sons.

(3.) I have considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and gone through the order passed by the learned Magistrate. Learned Magistrate has reproduced in extenso Zaitoon Bibi and her witness Jamal Din's statements in its order besides indicating that despite several opportunities having been allowed to the petitioner he had opted not to produce any evidence in rebuttal and his evidence was, therefore, closed vide order dated 16.12.2008. He has dealt in detail the submissions projected by the petitioner to contest the respondents' Claim to maintenance and thereafter recorded his findings thereon.