Mithu Halder Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Maintenance and Alimony | Calcutta HC (2025)

Mithu Halder Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Maintenance and Alimony | Calcutta HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Direction upon the court below to dispose of the petitioner's S.127 CrPC enhancement application (Misc. Case No. 3 of 2020) positively within three months from the date of communication of the order; urgent photostat certified copy to be given on compliance of requisite formalities.

Issue for consideration

Whether the court below (learned Magistrate) should be directed to dispose of the petitioner's pending S.127 CrPC enhancement application (Misc. Case No. 3 of 2020) within a fixed time limit, given its failure to comply with the earlier time-bound direction passed in CRR 1660 of 2023.

Court's answer

Finding of non-compliance: in spite of the specific direction by this Court to dispose of the S.127 application by 19th March 2025 (as recited in this order), the concerned Magistrate has not taken any endeavour to obey such order, in a proceeding where a vagrant lady approached the court five years back.

Ratio / Principle

Allowing the petitioner's prayer would cause no prejudice to the opposite parties, and accordingly service of copy of the application upon the opposite parties was dispensed with.

Key takeaways

CRR 2167 of 2025 was disposed of with a direction upon the court below to dispose of the petitioner's S.127 CrPC application, Misc. Case No. 3 of 2020, positively within three months from the date of communication of the order.ratio¶14

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Maintenance enhancement – expeditious disposal directed. Wife-petitioner (Mithu Halder) had been granted maintenance under S.125 CrPC by Magistrate's order dated 20.1.2011 (Rs. 1,000/- per month to her; Rs. 800/- per month per minor child). Her S.127 CrPC enhancement application (Misc. Case No. 3 of 2020, filed 02.12.2020) remained undisposed despite an earlier direction in CRR 1660 of 2023 to complete it by 19.03.2024. Noting that the concerned Magistrate 'has not taken any endeavour to obey such order', the Court (Dr. Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, J.; order dated 8.9.2025) dispensed with service on the opposite parties on the ground of no prejudice, and disposed of CRR 2167 of 2025 with a direction to dispose of Misc. Case No. 3 of 2020 positively within three months from communication of the order.

33 8.9.2025 sb

CRR 2167 of 2025

Mithu Halder

Vs.

The State of West Bengal & Anr.

Mr. Kashiswar Ghosal … for the Petitioner

The petitioner herein being the wife preferred an application under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the jurisdictional Magistrate by an order dated 20.1.2011, directed to pay maintenance of Rs. 1,000/- per month to the petitioner and Rs. 800/- per month for each of her two minor children from the date of filing of the petition. Thereafter, the petitioner herein filed an application for enhancement of the maintenance amount on 2^nd December, 2020 being Misc. case no. 3 of 2020 under Section 127 of the Code.

It is further submitted that the petitioner herein had earlier made a prayer before this High Court for expeditious disposal of the aforesaid application filed under Section 127 of the Code and this court while disposing such application being CRR 1660 of 2023 made the following observations:

“Learned Magistrate within three months from 19^th December, 2023 would dispose of the application under Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Needless to state that the learned Magistrate would be at liberty to fix as many as number of dates as it would deem fit and proper for the purposes of affording opportunity to both the parties. However, by 19^th March, 2024 the application under Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should be disposed of .”

However, the learned Trial court failed to dispose of the said application till date and the delay is not attributable to the

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present petitioner. Accordingly, he prayed for further direction upon the court below for expeditious disposal of the said proceeding.

Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner, it appears that if the prayer made by the petitioner is allowed, the opposite parties will have no cause to prejudice and as such, service of copy of the application upon the opposite parties is dispensed with. It is very astonishing that in spite of passing specific direction by this court to dispose of the application under Section 127 of the Code by 19^th March, 2025, the Magistrate concern has not taken any endeavour to obey such order in connection with a proceeding where a vagrant lady has knocked the court’s door to get justice five years back.

In such view of the matter, CRR 2167 of 2025 is hereby disposed of with a direction upon the court below to dispose of the petitioner’s application filed under Section 127 of the Code being Misc. Case no. 3 of 2020 positively within a period of three months from the date of communication of the order.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties upon compliance of the all requisite formalities.

(Dr. Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, J.)