NIHAR RANJAN DASH Vs. SMT. SUNITA SARANGI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Nihar Ranjan Dash who is the husband of the opposite party Smt. Sunita Sarangi has challenged the impugned order dated 22.07.2015 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri in Criminal Proceeding No. 144 of 2011 in rejecting the petition dated 02.02.2015 filed by the petitioner challenging the maintainability of the proceeding under section 125 of Crimial P.C. instituted against him by the opposite party on the ground of territorial jurisdiction.

(2.) It is case of the opposite party that she is the legally married wife of the petitioner and her marriage was solemnized with the petitioner on 211.2009 as per Hindi rites and customs at Bagala Dharmashala at Puri. At the time of marriage, as per the demand of the petitioner, cash of Rs.1,00,000.00 (rupees one lakh) was given to him. The opposite party then stayed with the petitioner at Delhi where the petitioner was serving at Sriram Institute of Marine Study. It is the further case of the opposite party that the petitioner was a drunkard and keeping illicit relationship with his own maternal aunt and when she came to know about the same and protested, she was tortured physically and mentally and was not even provided with food. She was asked by the petitioner to bring Rs.5,00,000.00 (rupees five lakhs only) from her father or else to search for a job for her and to pay her monthly salary to him. As she could not comply with the same, she was tortured and ousted from the house of the petitioner at New Delhi on 202010 and since then the opposite party came to reside at the village house of her father at Biswanathpur in Puri. The father and other family members of the opposite party several times approached the petitioner and his parents to take her back but they paid deaf ear to the request made.

(3.) It is the case of the opposite party that the application under section 125 of Crimial P.C. was filed by her before the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri while she was staying at her native village Biswanathpur in the district of Puri in the year 2011. Due to non-appearance of the petitioner at the time of hearing in the maintenance proceeding, he was set ex-parte on 005.2012 and ex-parte judgment was pronounced on 07.07.2012 directing the petitioner to pay maintenance to the opposite party from the date of filing of the petition.