A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125(3) and proviso—Successive execution applications—Held, Section 125 Cr.P.C. is a measure of social legislation to be construed liberally for the welfare of the wife and daughter, and the liability under Section 125(1) being a continuing one, it is unreasonable to insist on successive execution applications for each month's maintenance—Family Court's rejection of the execution application on this ground held erroneous, following Shantha alias Ushadevi v. B.G. Shivananjappa, (2005) 4 SCC 468, and Mohammad Usman alias Bhai Lal v. State of U.P., 2021 SCC OnLine All 640. [Paras 16-17] B. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125(3), first proviso—Limitation of one year for issuance of warrant—Held, the first proviso to Section 125(3) does not ...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125—Maintenance claim—Revisionist claiming maintenance as legally wedded wife—Trial Court rejecting claim due to existence of prior marriage of opposite party and lack of evidence of solemnization of marriage—Held, revisionist cannot claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC as legally wedded wife when marriage is not established and no live-in relationship is pleaded or proven—Presumption of valid marriage under Section 125 CrPC can arise only where parties have lived together as husband and wife for a considerable period or in a live-in relationship, and mere assertion of being legally wedded wife without evidence of marriage or live-in relationship is insufficient to sustain a maintenance claim. [Paras 7, 9, 12, 13] B. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Se...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125—Indian Majority Act, 1875—Section 3—Maintenance—Male child who has attained majority—Held, Section 125(1)(c) Cr.P.C. only provides maintenance to a legitimate or illegitimate child who has attained majority if by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury he is unable to maintain himself—Maintenance cannot be granted to a major male child who is capable of earning income—A person domiciled in India attains majority upon completing the age of eighteen years, and maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. is not applicable to male children who have attained majority unless they are mentally or physically disabled—Court directed Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Bulandshahr to explain under which provisions of law maintenance was...

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125—Interim maintenance—Minor daughter awarded Rs. 3000/- per month as interim maintenance—Mother asserting financial capacity to maintain herself and minor daughter to obtain custody—Court rejecting mother's claim for interim maintenance and upholding maintenance amount for minor daughter—Held, reasonable expenses for a minor child, including food, clothing, residence, medical care, and education, are to be adequately provided for, but when the mother is earning sufficiently, the financial burden may be shared proportionately between parents—Claim for enhancement of maintenance amount for minor daughter—Held, in the absence of cogent material showing a substantial increase in actual expenses or deterioration in the financial condition of the mother,...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Sections 125 and 340—Maintenance—Application under Section 340 Cr.P.C. filed after conclusion of arguments—Held, Section 340 Cr.P.C. proceedings are independent in nature and are not connected with the adjudication of proceedings under Section 125 Cr.P.C.—Trial Court not obliged to defer pronouncement of judgment merely because an application under Section 340 Cr.P.C. is filed at the stage when the matter is reserved for judgment, and such proceedings can be pursued separately in accordance with law—Judgment in Amit Bajpai v. State of U.P. distinguished—Filing of application under Section 340 Cr.P.C. at an advanced stage of proceedings does not entitle a party to automatic deferment of judgment—Principles laid down in Amit Bajpai held inapplicable to the pres...

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 125(1)(b) and (4)—Maintenance—Held, it is the moral and legal duty of the father to maintain his children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, who are unable to maintain themselves—Maintenance awarded to minor daughter upheld—However, a woman who is not the legally wedded wife of the opposite party is not entitled to maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C.—Maintenance awarded to the woman by the Trial Court set aside. [Paras 8 to 12] ...

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Section 143A—Cheque dishonour—Payment of 20% interim Compensation—Scope of—Petitioner-accused contended that the cheque was lost/stolen and the order was passed mechanically—Held, interim compensation U/s 143A is discretionary and not mandatory—The trial court must apply its mind to the facts and circumstances of the case and cannot direct payment merely because the accused has pleaded not guilty—A plea that the cheque was lost or stolen, unsupported by any contemporaneous material such as an FIR, stop-payment instructions, or other reliable evidence, coupled with inconsistent stands, omission to raise such defence at the stage of Section 251 Cr.P.C., and failure to reply to the statutory notice, constitutes relevant circumstances justifying the grant of inte...

A. Penal Code, 1860—Sections 375, 376, 323, 504 & 506—Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482—Quashing of Charge-sheet—Allegation of rape on false promise of marriage—Long-standing consensual relationship—Where the prosecutrix, a major, educated and mature woman, voluntarily remained in a romantic and physical relationship with the accused for about five years without lodging any complaint, and the FIR came to be lodged only after the relationship deteriorated, the allegations, even if accepted at face value, failed to disclose that her consent for sexual intercourse was vitiated by misconception of fact within the meaning of Section 90 IPC—Mere failure or subsequent inability to fulfil a promise of marriage cannot automatically be equated with a false promise made from the incept...

A.    Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012—Section 3 and 4—Penal Code, 1860—363, 366, 376, 323, 506—Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Section 378(3) (Section 419(3), BNSS)—Leave to Appeal against Acquittal—Testimony of Prosecutrix—Absence of Injuries and Definite Medical Opinion—Where medical examination discloses no internal or external injuries and no definite opinion regarding sexual assault, such evidence constitutes a relevant circumstance while appreciating the prosecution case, though not by itself conclusive—Where the prosecutrix allegedly remained with the accused for a prolonged period, travelled through several public places without raising alarm, and made materially inconsistent statements regarding recovery, the Trial Court is justified...

Protection of Child from Sexual Offences Act, 2012—Penal Code, 1860—Section 376 and 323—Cr.P.C., 1973—Section 164—Rape with minor girl—Appeal against conviction—Initial silence and delay in sexual offence cases—The victim accompanied her father to the police station when this initial report was lodged—Yet, the initial report is conspicuously silent on any sexual assault—Where the prosecutrix made improvements in her statements step by step, it becomes difficult to ascertain that which of her version is trustworthy and reliable—Further, mere delay in reporting a sexual offence is not always fatal—But where the earliest version itself omits the allegation of rape and the informant later sticks only to the original complaint, the omission becomes a serious circumstance a...