IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA C.R. No.1470 of 2007 MADAN BHAGAT Versus SANGEETA DEVI & ANR ----------- 2 1/9/2008 Heard counsel for the petitioner. In the opinion of this Court the amount of Rs. 1,000/- by way of monthly maintenance under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure cannot be said to be either illegal or excessive. The petitioner had taken two pleas, namely, that he was incapable of producing any issue because he was medically unfit. The petitioner did not produce any evidence to prove this aspect. The petitioner next contended that the child which was born by the opposite party actually did not belong to him. However, when the court had given him opportunity for getting D.N.A. test of child conducted, the petitioner ran away by taking a plea that he was poor and therefore could not afford the cost of the D.N.A. test. In that view of the matter, both the defences of the petitioner were examined by the court and the petitioner having failed to discharge his onus cannot now be permitted to assail the impugned order at least on the question of liability of payment of maintenance to his wife. The petitioner does not deny that the opposite party is his wife. Counsel for the petitioner next contended that the imposition of Rs. 1,000/- by way of monthly maintenance is too harsh and excessive in keeping with his limited means of income. 2 This Court having considered this aspect in the light of evidence on record would find that the petitioner was whole-sale dealer of vegetables as is recorded in paragraph 9 of the impugned order, and therefore the court below has not committed any error in awarding a sum of Rs. 1,000/- when case of the wife was that the minimum earning of the petitioner is Rs.10,000/- per month. The petitioner also did not adduce any evidence on the issue of his income which were within his knowledge and had thuys failed to discharge the onus that was shifted on him in view of section 106 of the Evidence Act. That being so, this Court would also not find the amount of Rs. 1,000/- to be either exorbitant muchless, excessive or illegal. This being the position, this Court does not find any merit in this civil revision application, and the same is accordingly dismissed. ( Mihir Kumar Jha, J. ) Abhay Kumar