Arvind Singh Sangwan, J
Prayer in this petition is for transfer of the petition filed by the respondent-husband under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, pending before the Family Court, Khanna to the competent Court of jurisdiction at Faridkot.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has filed a petition under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act at Faridkot and on an earlier occasion, a petition under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act was filed, in which, later on, the consent was withdrawn by the petitioner-wife at the stage of second motion.
It is further submitted that the respondent-husband has filed the present petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act at Khanna in order to harass the petitioner. It is further submitted that the petitioner is facing great difficulty in prosecuting the said case, as there is a distance of about 155 Kms between the aforesaid two places.
Learned counsel has relied upon the judgments Sumita Singh Vs. Kumar Sanjay, 2002 SC 396 and Rajani Kishor Pardeshi Vs. Kishor Babulal Pardeshi, 2005(12) SCC 237, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that “while deciding the transfer application, the Courts are required to give more weightage and consideration to the convenience of the female litigants and transfer of legal proceedings from one Court to another should ordinarily be allowed, taking into consideration their convenience and the Courts should desist from putting female litigants under undue hardships.”
Learned counsel for the petitioner has further relied upon 2022 Live Law (SC) 627 N.C.V. Aishwarya vs. A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha, wherein Hon'ble Supreme Court has held as under:
“9. The cardinal principle for exercise of power under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure is that the ends of justice should demand the transfer of the suit, appeal or other proceeding. In matrimonial matters, wherever Courts are called upon to consider the plea of transfer, the Courts have to take into consideration the economic soundness of both the parties, the social strata of the spouses and their behavioural pattern, their standard of life prior to the marriage and subsequent thereto and the circumstances of both the parties in eking out their livelihood and under whose protective umbrella they are seeking their sustenance to life. Given the prevailing socioeconomic paradigm in the Indian society, generally, it is the wife’s convenience which must be looked at while considering transfer. 10. Further, when two or more proceedings are pending in different Courts between the same parties which raise common question of fact and law, and when the decisions in the cases are interdependent, it is desirable that they should be tried together by the same Judge so as to avoid multiplicity in trial of the same issues and conflict of decisions.”
Mr. Amit Arora, Advocate, who is appearing on caveat on behalf of the respondent, submits that even FAO-4489-2022 was filed before this Court for waiving of the period of one year, in terms of Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which was allowed on 28.02.2023 and thereafter, the petitioner-wife has withdrawn her consent and the petition filed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act was dismissed, therefore, the respondent-husband has filed the present petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act at Khanna.
It is well settled that while considering the transfer of a matrimonial dispute/case at the instance of the wife, the Court is to consider family condition of the wife, custody of the minor child, economic condition of the wife, her physical health and earning capacity of the husband and most important, convenience of the wife i.e. she cannot travel alone without assistance of a male member of her family, connectivity of the place to and fro from her place of residence as well as bearing of the litigation charges and travelling expenses.
After hearing the counsel for the parties and considering the facts and circumstances and also in view of the judgments rendered in Sumita Singh’s case, Rajani Kishor Pardeshi’s case as well as N.C.V. Aishwarya's case (supra), this Court deems it appropriate to allow the present petition, with the following directions:-
(i) The petition filed under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, pending before the Family Court, Khanna will be transferred to the competent Court of jurisdiction at Faridkot.
(ii) The District Judge, Faridkot will assign the said petition to the competent Court of jurisdiction.
(iii) The Family Court at Khanna is directed to transfer all the record pertaining to the aforesaid case to District Judge, Faridkot.
(iv) The parties are directed to appear before the trial Court at Faridkot within a period of 01 month from today.
(v) The Courts concerned, where the cases are pending between the parties, will accommodate them with one date in a calendar month.
