The Bombay High Court ordered the release of a man sentenced to 47 months of simple imprisonment for default in payment of interim maintenance owed to his wife and daughter in a domestic violence case.
Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh held that the magistrate’s power to sentence imprisonment for default under Section 125(3) of the CrPC is limited to 12 months, as the provision provides a limitation period of 12 months from the due date of payment.
The court clarified that while only the defaults of the last 12 months can be clubbed in one application, imprisonment can be imposed for subsequent defaults in subsequent applications.
However, the petitioner continuously failed to make these payments, leading to a series of applications and ultimately an arrest warrant and subsequent imprisonment order by the metropolitan magistrate. Thus, he filed the present petition challenging the sentence.
Advocate appearing for the husband, argued that as per the provision of Section 125(3) of the CrPC, the power of the magistrate to sentence is limited to one month for every month of default, with a maximum limit of 12 months.
The court clarified that the provision of Section 125(3) limits the application for recovery of arrears to within one year, but it also includes a maximum limit of 12 months on the power of the magistrate to sentence.
The court cited previous judgments in support of its interpretation that only a default of 12 months can be clubbed in one application, subsequent defaults would require separate applications. The court also said that this limit applies irrespective of whether the maintenance is for minors or not.
Thereafter court order to release the Husband .
