Dispose Of Maintenance Pleas In Five Sittings, Orissa HC Directs Family Courts

Cuttack: Issuing general guidelines on adjudicating a maintenance petition under Cr PC section 125, a bench of Orissa High Court here has directed all family courts and district courts to complete proceedings and deliver justice in five-to-six sittings altogether.

A maintenance plea under Cr PC section 125, in normal circumstances, should not take more than five or six sittings, ruled the High Court and the copies of guidelines have been issued to all family and district courts.

The courts should issue notifications on the first date after registration of a case and the defendants shall appear along with their responses or objections on the next date. A fourth date may be considered if the parties consent on the third date to present their witnesses. The case should ultimately be heard on the fifth date. If no party agrees to present witnesses, then arguments could be concluded on the third date and verdict pronounced on the fourth, the court stated in its order in view of the huge pendency of cases across the state.

A High Court bench of Justice Biswanath Rath passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by Priyaranjan Dash to transfer his wife’s maintenance case from a family court in Nayagarh to Bhubaneswar. In such a situation, the husband should file objections in the lower court on the second date on the basis of which the case should be heard and judgement issued. The case should be disposed of within two months, said the judgement.