Sumita Singh v. Kumar Sanjay and Another
"Where the husband has instituted the matrimonial proceeding, the wife's convenience is the primary consideration in deciding her petition to transfer it to a court in another State under Section 25 CPC."
Issues Before the Court
- (i)
Whether a matrimonial case filed by the husband against the wife at Ara, Bhojpur (Bihar) should be transferred to Delhi, where the wife lived and worked, on her petition under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
- (ii)
Whose convenience carries the most weight when a matrimonial case is sought to be transferred from one State to another.
Law & Rules Applicable
- (i)
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Section 25 (power of the Supreme Court to transfer suits, appeals and other proceedings from a court in one State to a court in another State).
- (ii)
The Supreme Court's practice in matrimonial transfer petitions of weighing the relative hardship of the parties, with particular regard to the wife.
Application to Facts & Circumstances
The husband had instituted a matrimonial case against the wife before the court at Ara, Bhojpur, Bihar. The wife was living and employed in Delhi, about 1,100 kilometres away, and had no family support at Ara.
The Court noted that the proceeding was the husband's case against the wife, and that the convenience to be looked at was therefore the wife's. In its words: "It is the husband's suit against the wife. It is the wife's convenience that, therefore, must be looked at."
On the facts set out by the wife (the distance, her employment in Delhi and the absence of family support at Ara), the Court found that the case should be heard in Delhi.
Conclusion & Ruling
- (i)
Matrimonial Case No. 30 of 2000, pending before the VIth Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ara, was transferred to the District Judge, Delhi, to be heard by him or assigned to an appropriate court.
- (ii)
No order as to costs was made.
- (iii)
The short order is frequently cited for the proposition that in a proceeding brought by the husband, the wife's convenience is the primary consideration on a transfer petition; later decisions such as N.C.V. Aishwarya v. A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha apply the same approach alongside other factors.
Authorities Cited
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- N.C.V. Aishwarya v. A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha, 2022 INSC 1310Case brief →Full text of N.C.V. Aishwarya v. A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha on Indian Kanoon