Amendment in maintenance proceedings may be allowed to cure curable defects without changing the nature of the claim.

Section 125 CrPC maintenance proceedings are treated as quasi-civil and quasi-criminal social welfare remedies, so a formal amendment may be allowed even without an express enabling provision if it cures a simple defect and causes no prejudice. An amendment that does not alter the nature or character of the proceeding, and that merely corrects particulars such as dates or related factual , is permissible. On the stated facts, the proposed changes to the date of marriage, the child's date of birth, and property particulars were held not to change the essential character of the maintenance claim, and the amendment petition was therefore maintainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether a petition under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 can be amended, and whether the amendment sought in the present case was permissible.

Analysis: Proceedings under Section 125 of the Code are in the nature of a social welfare remedy, with the substantive right adjudicated being civil, though the provision also contains a criminal enforcement element. Such proceedings are therefore quasi-civil and quasi-criminal. Although the Code does not expressly provide for amendment of a petition, courts may permit a formal amendment to cure a simple and curable infirmity, provided no prejudice is caused to the opposite party. An amendment that does not alter the nature or character of the proceeding, and which merely corrects mistakes in dates and related particulars, falls within that permissible category. On the facts, the proposed amendment concerned the date of marriage, the date of birth of the child, and certain property particulars, and would not change the essential character of the maintenance claim.

Conclusion: The Magistrate had power to entertain the amendment petition, and the amendment sought was permissible. The revision was therefore liable to fail.

Ratio Decidendi: Even in the absence of an express enabling provision, a court may permit a formal amendment in a Section 125 maintenance proceeding to cure a curable defect, so long as the amendment does not change the nature of the proceeding or prejudice the other side.

---