Hema. K.K. vs Shine. T.

The petitioner is the wife and the respondent is the husband.

The respondent has filed O.P.(HMA) No. 876/2018 in the Family Court, Chavara for granting a decree of divorce. The prayer in this petition is to transfer the case O.P.(HMA) No. 876/2018 from the Family Court, Chavara to the Family Court, Kasaragod.

The prayer for transfer of the case is made by the petitioner on the ground that she is residing at the place Kudlu in Kasaragod District, along with her aged parents, at a distance of about 600 kilometers from the Family Court, Chavara and she is not in a position to contest the case filed against her by the respondent by undertaking such a long journey.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and also the respondent.

Learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the respondent has no objection to allow the prayer for transfer of the case.

Even otherwise, in applications for transfer of cases relating to matrimonial disputes, it is the convenience of the wife that has to be given preference.

In matrimonial matters, while considering application for transfer of case from one court to another, convenience of the wife is to be preferred to the convenience of the husband [Rajani Kishor v. Kishor Babulal : (2005) 12 SCC 237, Sumita Singh v. Kumar Sanjay : AIR 2002 SC 396 and Rajwinder Kaur v. Balwinder Singh : (2003) 11 SCC 726]. Comparative hardship to the parties requires consideration by the court in ordering transfer of a matrimonial case [Vaishali Shridhar Jagtap v. Shridhar Vishwanath Jagtap : AIR 2016 SC 3584] . Financial stringency of the wife and her inability to meet the expenses of travel to a court at a distant place are also matters to be considered [Mona Aresh Goel v. Aresh Satya Goel: (2000) 9 SCC 255].

In the instant case, the respondent has not disputed the fact that the petitioner is residing at a place in Kasaragod District with her aged parents. There can be no doubt with regard to the fact that it would be very inconvenient for the petitioner to undertake a long journey and to attend the Family Court at Chavara in Kollam District.

In the above circumstances, I find that the prayer for transferring the case from the Family Court, Chavara to the Family Court, Kasaragod has to be allowed.

Consequently, the petition is allowed. The case O.P.(HMA) No. 876/2018 pending in the Family Court, Chavara is transferred to the Family Court, Kasaragod. The Judge, Family Court, Chavara shall transmit the records of the case to the Family Court, Kasaragod, after fixing a date for appearance of the parties before the Family Court, Kasaragod and giving due intimation to counsel for both parties regarding it.

All pending interlocutory applications are closed.