Fathimakutty @APPELLANT@Hash Shihabudheen

The main prayer in Tr.P.(C) No. 376/2017 filed under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure is as follows :

"In the circumstances, it is most humbly prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to transfer O.P. No.266/2017 of Family Court, Tirur to the Family Court, Malappuram, in the interests of justice."

The main prayer in Tr.P.(C) No. 377/2017 filed under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure is as follows :

"In the circumstances, it is most humbly prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to transfer O.P. No.259/2017 of Family Court, Tirur to the Family Court, Malappuram, in the interests of justice."

Heard Sri.R. Ranjith (Manjeri), learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Though notice has been duly served on the respondent, there is no appearance for that party.

The petitioner herein is the wife of the respondent herein. Due to the matrimonial disputes between the spouses, the the respondent has filed O.P. No.266/2017 before the Family Court, Tirur, seeking restitution of conjugal rights and O.P. No.259/2017 before the Family Court, Tirur seeking custody of the minor child. The petitioner has also filed M.C. No.153/2016 before the Family Court, Malappuram seeking maintenance. She has also filed O.P. (G&W) No.575/2016 to get the custody of the elder child. It is submitted that the petitioner resides at Kuzhimanna in Malappuram District. Petitioner states that she finds it extremely difficult to travel all the way from Kuzhimanna to attend the proceedings pending before the Family Court, Tirur.

In the judgments of the Apex Court as in Sumitha Singh v. Kumar Sanjay & Anr. reported in (2001) 10 SCC 41, Rajwinder Kaur v. Balwinder Singh reported in (2003) 11 SCC 726, Mona Aresh Goel v. Aresh Satya Goel, reported in (2000) 9 SCC 255, Vaishali Shridhar Jagtap v. Shridhar Vishwanath Jagtap, reported in AIR 2016 SC 3584, etc. it has been held that in the matter of transfer of cases from one Family Court to another, inconvenience to wife should be given special consideration by the courts, etc.

It is in the interest of both the sides that all the litigative proceedings between the spouses are conducted in the same venue so that both the parties could have well coordinated and focused litigative management.

Accordingly, it is ordered that O.P. Nos.259 and 266 of 2017 now pending on the file of the Family Court, Tirur will stand transferred to file of the Family Court, Malappuram. The petitioner shall produce a certified copy of this order before the Family Court, Tirur and upon such receipt, that Court shall transmit the case papers and records in relation to O.P. Nos.259 and 266 of 2017 to the Family Court, Malappuram. On receipt of the case papers, the Family Court, Malappuram shall issue notices to the parties concerned and thereafter proceed with the matter in accordance with law.

Taking note of the submissions made by the petitioner regarding the inconvenience faced by her, it is ordered in the interest of justice that it will be open to both parties to make appropriate applications for exemption from personal appearance before the Family Court, upon which, the said request may be considered favourably, provided they appear through Advocates. However, it is made clear that the parties will have to appear before the Family Court at the time of counselling and mediation process, etc., as and when specifically so directed by the Family Court.

With these observations and directions, these Transfer Petitions (Civil) will stand finally disposed of.