crucial date for ascertaining whether a wife is entitled to live separately and maintenance is the date on which the Magistrate passes the order.
The provisions of S. 125 of the Code are enacted to give helping hand to a woman who is unable to maintain herself and whose husband, having mean, neglects or refuses to maintain her. The proceedings under S. 125 are of summary nature and the Magistrate is not requires to determine which party to the marriage is at fault. The ambit of inquiry before the Magistrate is only whether the wife is unable to maintain herself and whether the husband has refused or neglected to maintain her. It is undoubtedly true that in the present case the husband had given notice to the wife to return back to the matrimonial home and the notice was followed by filing of a suit for restitution of conjugal rights. We are informed that