Divorce Suit Transfer- "Convenience Of Wife Is To Be Preferred Over The Convenience Of Husband": Rajasthan High Court

"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," the Bench of Justice Chandra Kumar Songara further observed.

The matter in brief

Respondent-husband filed a Divorce Petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 before the Additional District Judge, Kekri District Ajmer.

The petitioner-wife sought transfer of the suit from the Court of Additional District Judge, Kekri District Ajmer to the Family Court situated at Kota, where she is presently reading.

The petitioner-wife argued that her daughter is six years old requires constant care and attention, so it is neither possible for the petitioner to leave her alone for almost 7-8 hours nor to take her along with her to the Court.

She also contended that Kekri Court in District Ajmer is at a distance of more than 100 Kms. and a one-way journey takes approximately three to five hours, and therefore, it was prayed that suit be transferred.

On the other hand, the Husband argued that he has been living with his parents at Sarvar, District Ajmer, and is drawing a salary @ Rs.6000/- per month.

It was also argued that the father of the respondent is suffering from severe back pain and is not even in a position to walk properly and therefore, it was contended that it would be difficult for the respondent to keep traveling to Kota to attend the court dates.

Court's order

Noting that the lady is residing in Kota at her parental house and she is taking care of her daughter and the fact that she is not employed anywhere, and has no source of income, the Court allowed the transfer application filed by the petitioner-wife.

The Court ordered that the case pending before the Court of Additional District Judge, Kekri District Ajmer be transferred to the Family Court, No.1, Kota.

Importantly, underscoring that in such type of matters, the convenience of the wife is to be preferred over the convenience of the husband, the Court observed thus:

"It is well settled legal position that while going into the merits of a transfer application, 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."

Case title - Smt. Ekta Dhadhich v. Rajendra Prasad Sharma

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