Law Considers Women As 'Weaker Section' Of Society Requiring More Protection: Bombay High Court While Transferring Matrimonial Case

The court observed,

"Even though this reason may be of some importance, the fact that the Applicant in Miscellaneous Civil Application No.171 of 2022 is a lady, her inconvenience needs to be given more priority because the law considers woman as class belonging to weaker section of society and needs more protection."

Justice S. M. Modak was dealing with two rival transfer applications filed by a husband and wife in a matrimonial case.

The husband prayed for transfer of wife's divorce petition to Pune Family Court from Thane Civil Court. The wife wanted the transfer of husband's application for restitution of conjugal rights to Thane Civil Court from Pune Family Court.

The court observed that both petitions must be tried together by the same court to avoid the possibility of conflicting orders.

Court noted that section 21A of the Hindu Marriage Act contemplates transfer of divorce petitions but does not mention restitution petitions. Hence, transfer of both the petitions needs to be decided as per section 24 of the CPC.

The wife submitted that her financial condition due to unemployment, atrocities committed on her by the husband, and danger to her life as her grounds for requesting transfer.

The husband, denying allegations of any atrocity, submitted that their two school going children are residing with him and being cared for by his family. He submitted that he is willing to reimburse travel expenses to his wife.

Both parties emphasised the inconvenience of travel due to distance between Thane and Pune.

The court noted that allegations and counter allegations made by both spouses against each other can only be looked into for a limited purpose for deciding the transfer applications.

Court noted that wife's claim of danger to her life on the basis of mistreatment during cohabitation can be ground for transfer. "If wife comes with a grievance that during cohabitation she was being ill-treated to great extent and on that background if there is danger to her life to visit the place where husband is residing certainly it can be considered as a ground for transfer." The court also noted that the wife has not approached any authority so far as danger to her life is concerned.

The court noted that while the husband has the custody of their children, admittedly his mother, aunt and his sister take care of them since he is busy with has business contracts.

After considering the submissions of both spouses the court decided to grant relief to the wife stating that the lady's inconvenience needs to be prioritized as women belong to weaker sections of society and need more protection.

The court observed that the husband had not raised any "special grounds" to say that the wife has financial means and means of transport at her disposal to attend the Pune Court.

The court allowed wife's transfer application and rejected husband's transfer application. The court transferred husband's restitution petition to the Thane Civil Court.

Case no: Misc. Civil Application no. 284 of 2022

Case Title: Rahul Uttam Phadtare v. Sarika Rahul Phadtare

Coram: Justice S. K. Modak