125 cr.p.c.
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 15 March 2010
This query is : Resolved
a petition u/s125 cr.p.c can ammended under order 6 rule 17 of c.p.c
Guest
(Expert) 15 March 2010
NO. THE PROVIDION OF CPC NOT APPLICABLE. ITS CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE.
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 15 March 2010
Such proceeding is quasi civil and criminal so provisions of CPC qua amendment are generally applied in this section.
N RAMESH.
(Expert) 15 March 2010
INDIAN EXPRESS 11 Mar 2010
'Petition for maintenance can be amended'
CHENNAI: Can a petition seeking maintenance, filed under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), be amended subsequently? Yes, according to Justice S Nagamuthu of the Madras High Court.
Chinnathayee filed a petition seeking maintenance from her husband Chinnapaiyan before the Judicial Magistrate-II in Mettur Dam.
She claimed that she got married on the 10th of Vaigasi month about 29 years ago and a child was born to them on 10th of Vaigasi in 1976. In his counter, the husband denied the marriage and the birth of the child.
Subsequently, Chinnathayee filed a petition seeking to permit her to amend the petition with reference to the age of her husband and that of the marriage date. She also wanted to add some more details with regard to the immovable properties of the husband.
Chinnapaiyan’s counsel contended that there was no provision enabling such an amendment. If the amendment was allowed, it would change the very character of the petition and therefore, the same should not be allowed. The concept of amendment was unknown to criminal law, he added.
Since the question of law involved in this case has public importance, Justice Nagamuthu appointed senior advocate V Padmanabhan, one of the leading criminal lawyers, as the amicus curie to assist the court in solving the issue.
Padmanabhan told the judge that since the proceedings under Section 125 of the CrPC were quasi-civil in nature, though no specific provision for amendment was available in the code, such amendment could be permitted.
Accepting the submissions of Padmanabhan, Justice Nagamuthu observed that it was a social legislation to protect the women/children/ parents, who were in need of support.
When such a claim for maintenance was made under the Personal Law, the right was decided by the civil court. Only with a view to have a speedy disposal of such claims for maintenance, considering the urgent need of the victims of desertion and neglect, Parliament had thought it fit to incorporate the provision to enable the victims to claim maintenance through the criminal court.
Thus, though a petition under Section 125(1) of the code was made before the criminal court, as defined under Section 6 of the code essentially, the right that was to be decided by the said court was purely civil in nature. Therefore, undoubtedly, the order made by the magistrate under Section 125(1) of the code for maintenance was the culmination of such a civil right of an individual.
Moreover, in the case on hand, the woman wanted to change the date of marriage, the date of birth of the child and the details about the immovable properties of her husband, which had been erroneously mentioned due to inadvertence.
“Allowing such amendment to cure the mistakes, in my considered opinion, will not change either the nature or the character of the proceedings,’’ the judge said and permitted her to amend her petition."
Parveen Kr. Aggarwal
(Expert) 15 March 2010
Although section 125 is a part of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 but it essentially deals with civil rights of the parties and the proceedings are primarily of civil nature. The Court has inherent powers to permit amendment in the pleadings to prevent failure of justice.
nidhi kalia
(Expert) 21 March 2010
125 crpc is quasi criminal & civil proceeding so can amendment in it.
Rohit Krishan Naagpal
(Expert) 27 April 2020
It has been laid down by Kerala High Court in the case of Madhavi v. Timpran, (1987) 3 Crimes at page 183, that proceedings under Section 125 of the Code are not punitive. It is not a criminal proceeding at all. It serves a social purpose and only prescribes an alternative Forum to get relief. Though the section appears in Criminal Procedure Code but it remains a proceeding of civil nature. Enquiries therein are only quasi criminal in nature. For all practical purpose is the pleadings in a proceeding under Section 125, Cr.P.C. are like pleadings in a civil case and the pleadings can be amended in appropriate circumstances.
