Holding

An interlocutory application filed during the pendency of a Section 125(3) petition that was originally filed within the one‑year limitation period is not a fresh application and is therefore not barred by the limitation provision.

Summary

Shantha @Ushadevi and her minor daughter filed a petition under Section 125 of the CrPC for maintenance, which was granted on 20 January 1993. They later filed a Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No.47/1993 under Section 125(3) to recover arrears up to August 1993, but the husband filed revisions in the Sessions Court and High Court, both of which were dismissed. No maintenance was paid, and on 16 June 1998 the wife filed an interlocutory application (IA) in the same petition seeking arrears from the date of the 1993 order up to the date of the IA. The husband contended that the IA was barred by the one‑year limitation in the first proviso to Section 125(3). The trial court dismissed the IA as time‑barred, the Sessions Court held the limitation did not apply, and the High Court reversed that view. The Supreme Court held that the IA was merely a supplementary application to a pending petition filed within the limitation period, and therefore the limitation provision did not apply. Consequently, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court order and restored the lower court’s decision.

Issues considered

The interlocutory application filed in 1998 for recovery of maintenance arrears is barred by the one‑year limitation under the first proviso to Section 125(3) of the CrPC.
Whether a pending Section 125(3) petition keeps the limitation period open for subsequent applications specifying the amount due.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 125(1), s. 125(3) first proviso

Subjects

maintenanceSection 125 CrPClimitationarrears of maintenanceinterlocutory applicationsocial legislationfamily law

Judgment

SHANTHA @ USHADEVI AND ANR. A
v.
B.G. SHIVANANJAPPA

MAY 6, 2005

[P, VENKATARAMA REDDI AND A.K. MATHUR, JJ.] B

'
-(
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:

Sections 125(3), 'first proviso' and 125(1)-Arrears of Maintenance-
Claimfor-Limitation-Trial court orflered maintenance to wife and daughter C
under S.125(1)-Petition filed by wife for recovery of maintenance but no
payment made by husband-Instead, he filed revision in Sessions Court and
then in High Court which were dismissed-Thereafter wife filed IA in the
pending petition claiming, maintenance for the entire period-Challenge to,
, on gro_und of being time ba~red under proviso to S. 12 5(3) Cr('C-Held: IA D
~ cannot be dismissed as time-barred as the petition ·claiming arrears of
maintenance was filed within one year from the date the amount became due
and was pending a/through.

Section 125--Social legislation-To be construed liberally for the welfare
and benefit of wife and children.' E
Appellant-wife filed a petition under Section 125 CrPC against
respondent-husballd claiming maintenance for herself and her minor
daughter. On 20.1.1993, trial court awarded maintenance of Rs. 500 to
the appellant and Rs. 300 to daughter. Appellant filed Cr!. Misc. Petition
No. 47/1993 to recover the arrears of maintenance for the period 20.1.1993 F
to 31.8.1993. Respondent preferred revision in Sessions Court and then
in High Court. During the pendency of these revisions, the respondent did
not pay any amount nor the Magistrate issued the warrant in terms of
Section 125(3). Sessions Court and High Court both dismissed the revisions
and affirmed the order of grant of maintenance. Thereafter, on 16.6.1998, G
appellant filed an IA seeking recovery of an amount of Rs. 46000 for the
period 20.1.1993 to 16.6.1998. Respondent paid only Rs. 5365 for a period
20.1.1999 to 31.8.1999 and took a stand that no further amount was
payable as the IA filed on 16.6.1998 was time barred under the proviso to
Section 125(3) CrPC. Trial Court dismissed the IA on the ground of
153 H
154 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A limitation while Sessions Court held that bar of limitation did not apply.
Respondent was successful in revision before High Court. Hence the
present appeal.

Allowing the appeal, the Court

B HELD: l. The amount of maintenance became due by virtue of the
trial Court's order passed on 20.1.1993 and in order to seek recovery of
the amount due by issuance of warrant, application is to be made within )
)
a period of one year from the date the amount became due. In the present
case, Crl. Misc. Petition was filed well within one year. As no amount was
paid even after the disposal of the matter by the High Court, the appellant
c filed I.A. wherein the arrears due up to that date were calculated and
sought recovery of that amount under Section 125 (3). Thus, LA'.. was filed
even when Crl. Misc. Petition was pending and no action to issue warrant
was taken in that proceeding. The fact that the additional amount was
specified in the I.A. does not mean that the application. for execution of
D the order by issuing a warrant under Section 125(3) was a fresh application '
made for the first time. The main petition filed in the year 1993 was
pending and kept alive and the filing of subsequent I.A. in 1998 was only
to specify the exact amount which accrued upto that date: Such application
is only supplementary or incidental to the petition already filed in 1993
admittedly within the period of limitation. The fact that only a sum of Rs.
E 5,365/- representing the arrears of eight months was mentioned therein
does not curtail the scope of Crl. Misc. Petition filed in 1993 more so when
no acti-On was taken thereon and it remained pending. (158-C, D, E, F, GI

2. In the peculiar circumstances of the case, the bar under Section
125(3) cannot be applied and the High Court has erred in reversing the
F
order of Sessions Judge. Section 125 Cr. P.C. is a measure of social
legislation and it has to be construed liberally for the welfare and benefit
of the wife and daughter. It is unreasonable to insist on filing successive
applications when the liability to pay the maintenance as per the order
passed under Section 125(1) is a continuing liability. (158-H)
G
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDlCTION : Criminal Appeal No. 673
of 2005.

From the Judgment and Order dated 11.3.2004 of the Karnataka High
Court in Crl.R.P.No. 753 of 2003.
H (
SHANTHA @USHADEVI v. B.G. SHIVANANJAPPA [A.K. MATHUR,J.] 15 5
Kashi Vishweshwar, Yash Anand and R.C. Kohli for the Appellants. A
N.D.B. Raju, Guntur Prabhakar and Ms. Bharathi R. for the Respondent.

(
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

A.K. MATHUR, J. Leave granted. B
Brief facts giving rise to this appeal are that the appellant, Shantha @
Ushadevi and Kusuma, a minor represented by her mother-guardian filed a
petition under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure being Criminal
;
Petition No.2 of 1991 before the trial Court against respondent claiming for
maintenance. The said criminal petition was allowed by the trial court by its c
order dated January 20, 1993 awarding a sum of Rs. 500 to the appellant, the
wife of the respondent and a sum of Rs. 300 to Kusuma, the daughter for
maintenance. The appellant filed Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No.4 7 of
1993 under Section 125(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure claiming an
amount of Rs.5,365 as arrear maintenance calculated from January 20, 1993
D
(i.e. the date of the trial court's order granting maintenance) to August 31,
1993. Respondent filed a criminal revision before the Sessions Judge, Tumkur
being Cr!. Revision Petition No.35 of 1993 against the order passed by the
trial court. This revision petition was dismissed by the Sessions Judge by its
order dated June 26, 1997 affirming the order passed by the trial court.
Thereafter, the respondent took up the matter before the High Court of E
Karnataka at Bangalore by filing a criminal revision petition being
Cr.R.P.No.2297 of 1997 against the order passed by the Sessions Judge,
Tumkur on June 26, 1997. The said revision petition was dismissed by the
High Court. After the affinnation of the order by the High Court, an interim
application being I.A. I was filed in Criminal Misc. Petition No.4 7 of 1993
F
claiming arrears of maintenance for the period from January 20, 1993 i.e. the
date of the trial court's order till the date of filing the I.A. 1. i.e., 16th June,
1998 for a sum of Rs. 46,000/-. The respondent deposited a sum of Rs. 5,365
towards the maintenance from January 20,1993 till August 31, 1993. However,
IA-1 filed by the appellant for arrears of maintenance in Cr!. Misc. Petition
No.47 of 1993 claiming maintenance of Rs.46, 000/- was objected by the G
respondent contending that the appellant cannot claim arrears of maintenance
beyond a period of one year under first proviso to Section 125(3) of the Code
"'
of Criminal Procedure being barred by limitation. The trial court by its order
dated July 13, 2000 dismissed the IA- I being barred by limitation. The
appe\\ant thereafter filed a criminal revision which came to be registered as H
,_
156 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] SUPP. l S.C.R.

A Criminal Revision Petition No.194/2000 before the learned Sessions Judge,
Tumkur. The said criminal revision petition was allowed by the learned
Sessions Judge by its order dated November 23, 2002 and the matter was
remanded back to the trial court. Learned Sessions Judge observed that there
was no need of filing a fresh petition during the pendency of the application
B under Section 125(3) Cr. P .C. for maintenance which has· fallen due for the
period post application and it is implicit in the powers of the court to make
an order directing the husband to make payment of arrears of maintenance
up to the decision while disposing of the application for recovery of arrears
of maintenance. The learned Sessions Judge further observed that it is not
\.
required to file a fresh application which may lead to multiplicity of litigations.
C Learned Sessions Judge further held that the I.A. I filed in Criminal Misc.
Petition No.47of1993 claiming maintenance was within limitation. Aggrieved
against this order of the learned Sessions Judge, respondent filed criminal
revision being Crl. R .P. No.753 of2003 before the High Court ofKarnataka
at Bangalore. The High Court allowed the criminal revision and set aside the
D order of the learned Sessions Judge holding that the said application was
barred by limitation. Aggrieved against this order of the High Court passed
in Criminal Revision Petition No.753 of2003 on March I I, 2004 the present
Special Leave Petition w_as filed by the appellants.

It was submitted before the learned Single Judge of.the High Court that
E under proviso to sub-section (3) of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure no warrant can be issued to levy the amount due beyond a period
of one year. Therefore, the application i.e. I.A.No. I filed in Crl. Misc. Petition
No.47of1993 is barred by limitation. However, Crl. Misc. Petition No.47 of
1993 for recovery of the amount of arrears was allowed to the extent of
Rs.5600/- for the period from January 20, 1993 to August 3 I, 1993 i.e. for
F a period of eight months. Subsequently, I.A.I was filed on 16th June, I998
for recovery of arrears from January 20, 1993 till the date of its filing, i.e.
16th June, 1998. This was objected to by the respondent-husband. Learned
Single Judge of the High Court after considering the matter took the view
that the arrears from September I, 1993 to June 16, 1998 was barred by
G limitation and therefore, reversed the judgment of the learned Sessions Judge
who had opined that there was no need for the appellants to file I.A. I during
the pendency of the Criminal Miscellaneous petition No.47 of 1993 as the
appellants were entitled to the arrears of maintenance right from the date the_ ,
Magistrate passed the order.

H We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the records.
SHANTHA@ USHADEVI v. B.G. SHIVANANJAPPA [A.K. MA THUR,J.] 157

The facts that emerge are that by an order dated 20th January, 1993, passed A
by the Judicial Magistrate of Class I, Gubbi, the appellant No. I was granted
maintenance at the rate of Rs.500 per month for herself and Rs.300/- for her
minor daughter. This order of grant of maintenance was affirmed by the High
Court when the revision petition filed against this order was dismissed by the
High Court on December 18, 1997.
B
In order to recover the amount, as per the. order of the Judicial Magistrate,
. the appellant filed Cr!. Misc. Petition No. 47 of 1993 on 1.9.1993 showing
the arrears of maintenance for the period of eight months. During the pendency
of revision petition in the Sessions Court and the High Court, the respondent
did not pay any amount nor did the Magistrate issue a warrant in terms of C
section 125(3). After the disposal of the matter by the High Court, the appellant
filed anLA. being I.A. No. I in Cr!. Misc. Petition No. 47 of 1993 seeking
recovery of an amount of Rs. 46,700/- being arrears due after the date of
filing the petition, being the arrears due from the Trial Court's Order (20th
January, 1993) till the date of filing the I.A., i.e., 16th June, 1998. After the
filing of the said I.A., the respondent deposited an amount of Rs. 5,365/- D
towards arrears due for a period of eight months, i.e., from 20th January,
1993 to 31st August, 199'3. The respondent-husband took the stand that no
further amount was payable as the I.A. filed on 1st July, 1998 was barred by
limitation under the first proviso to Section 125(3) Cr.P.C. According to the
respondent, the arrears of maintenance for the said period of eight months E
only were recoverable under Section 125(3), in view of the Cr!. Misc. Petition
No. 476 of 1993 filed on 1.9. 1993 wherein the issuance of warrant was
sought for recovery df a sum of Rs. 5,365/- due for about eight months. As
already noticed, the learned Magistrate dismissed I.A. I of 1998 on the ground
of limitation. However, the learned Sessions Judge having held that the bar
of limitation did not apply, remitted the matter to the Trial Court for fresh F
disposal on a revision filed in the High Court by the husband, the present
impugned order was passed allowing the revision and restoring the order of
the Trial Court. To appreciate the question whether the bar of limitation
under the proviso to Section 125(3) is attracted in the light of the facts of the
present case, a reference to the said provision is necessary: .
G
"If any person so ordered fails without sufficient. cause to comply
with the order, any such Magistrate may, for every breach of the
order, issue a warrant for levying the amount due in the manner
provided for levying fines, and may sentence such (allowance for the
maintenance or the interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding, H
158 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] SUPP. l S.C.R.

A· as the case may be, ) remaining unpaid after the execution of the
warrant, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month
or until payment if sooner made:

Provided that no warrant shall be issued for the recovery of any
amount due under this section unless application be made to the
B Court to levy such amount within a period of one year from the date
on which it became due:

xx xx xx "
It is true that the· amount of maintenance became due by virtue of the
C Magistrate's order passed on 20th January, 1993 and in order to seek recovery
of the amount due by issuance of warrant, application shall be madi;: within
a period Of one year from the date the amount became due. In the present
case; the application, namely, Crl. Misc. Petition No. 47 of 1993 was filed
well within one year. As no amount was paid even after the disposal of the
matter by the High Court, the appellant filed I.A. l in Cr!. Misc. Petition No.
D 47 of 1993 wherein the arrears due up to that date were calculated and sought
recovery of that amount under Section 125 (3). Thus, I.A. 1 was filed even
when Cr!. Misc. Petition 4 7 of 1993 was pending and no action to issue
warrant was taken in that proceeding. Cr!. Misc. Petition of 4 7 of 1993 which
was filed within one year from the date the amount became due was kept
E alive and it was pending althiough. The purpose of filing I.A. on I st September,
1998 was only to mention the amount due upto date. The fact that the additional
amount was specified in the I.A. does not mean that the application for
execution of the order by issuing a warrant under Section 125(3) was a fresh
application made for the first time. As already noticed, the main petition filed
in the year 1993 was pending and kept alive and the filing of subsequent I.A.
F in 1998 was only to specify the exact amount which accrued due upto that
date. Such application is only supplementary or incidental to the petition
already filed in 1993 admittedly within the period of limitation. The fact that
only a sum of Rs. 5,365/- representing the arrears of eight months was
mentioned therein does not curtail the scope of Cr!. Misc. Petition filed· in
G 1993 mtire so when no action was taken thereon and it remained pending.
We are, therefore, of the view that in the peculiar circumstances of the
case, the bar under Section 125(3) cannot be applied and' the High Court has
erred in reversing the order of Sessions Judge. It must be borne in mind that
Section 125 Cr. P.C. is a measure of social legislation and It has to be
H construed liberally for the welfare and benefit of the wife and daughter. It is
SHANTHA @USHADEVI v. B.G. SHIVANANJAPPA (A.K. MATHUR,J.) 159

unreasonable to insist on filing successive applications when the liability to A
pay the maintenance as per the order passed under Section 125(1) is a
continuing liability.

For the above reasons, we set aside the impugned order of the High
Court and restore the order passed by the Additional District Judge, Tumkur
in Cr!. R.P. No. 194 of 2000. The learned Magistrate shall take appropriate B
steps under Section 125 (3) in case the arrears of maintenance is not paid
within three months.

D.G. Appeal allowed.