Harpreet Kaur v. Harpreet Singh

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH Transfer Application No. 818 of 2019 Date of decision: 14.11.2022 Harpreet Kaur ..........Petitioner vs Harpreet Singh ...........Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NIDHI GUPTA Present:- Mr. A.S. Gagrha, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Sarju Puri, Advocate For the respondent.

NIDHI GUPTA, J.(Oral) 1.

Prayer in this petition filed by petitioner-wife is for transfer of the petition filed by respondent-husband under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act,1955 titled "Harpreet Singh vs Harpreet Kaur" pending in the Court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Mohali to a Court of competent jurisdiction at Hoshiarpur.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner has contended :- i) that the parties were married on 06.12.2014 according to Sikh rites and rituals.

ii) that no child was born out of this wedlock.

iii) that the petitioner-wife is living separately from the respondent-husband since 19.5.2017 and living with her parents at their mercy at Hoshiarpur.

iv) that the petitioner is unemployed, having no source of income and totally dependent upon her parents and the

respondent-husband is not paying anything to her towards maintenance, whereas the respondent is having a restaurant under the name and style of 'Punjabi Zaika' at Sector 38, Chandigarh and earning Rs.1,50,000/- per month.

v) The respondent-husband has filed the petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which is pending before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Mohali. The proceedings arising out of petitions (1) under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and (2) under Section 125 Cr.P.C., filed by the petitioner-wife, are pending in the Courts having competent jurisdiction at Hoshiarpur.

v) that the distance between place of residence of the petitioner-wife i.e. Hoshiarpur and the place of proceedings under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 filed by the respondent-husband, pending before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Mohali, is about 150 kilometers of one side.

vi) that the petitioner is presently living on the mercy of her parents due to desertion by the respondent and is not able to travel so much distance from Hoshiarpur to Mohali and the mother of the petitioner is also suffering from various old age ailments and arthritis.

3.

It is inter alia on these grounds that petitioner prays for transfer of the case, as detailed in para 1 above. 4.

Learned counsel for the respondent has submitted that the petitioner's father is a retired police official and therefore the respondent apprehends bodily harm in case he is made to go to Hoshiarpur for attending the proceedings. Learned counsel has also referred to the pictures appended at Annexure R-1 to show that the petitioner and her family had come to the respondent's shop to hound

and threatened him. It is accordingly submitted that the matter be transferred to a place equal distance between Hoshiarpur and Mohali in the interest of safety of both the parties and to ensure that the situation is not precipitated.

5.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties. The legal position in such like cases as the present one, is well established. In this regard, judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in N.C.V. Aishwarya vs A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha," 2022 Live Law (SC) 627, is most relevant wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held as under:- "9. The cardinal principle for exercise of power under section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure is that the ends of justice should demand the transfer of the suit, appeal or other proceeding.

In matrimonial matters, wherever Courts are called upon to consider the plea of transfer, the Courts have to take into consideration the economic soundness of both the parties, the social strata of the spouses and their behavioural pattern, their standard of life prior to the marriage and subsequent thereto and the circumstances of both the parties in eking out their livelihood and under whose protective umbrella they are seeking their sustenance to life. Given the prevailing socioeconomic paradigm in the Indian society, generally, it is the wife's convenience which must be looked at while considering transfer.

10. Further, when two or more proceedings are pending in different Courts between the same parties which raise common question of fact and law, and when the decisions in the cases are interdependent, it is desirable that they should be tried together by the same Judge so as to avoid multiplicity in trial of the same issues and conflict of decisions."

6. Further reliance can be placed upon the judgments in "Sumita Singh vs Kumar Sanjay", 2002 SC 396 and "Rajani Kishor Pardeshivs Kishor Babulal Pardeshi", 2005(12) SCC 237, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that "while deciding the transfer application, the 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."

7. Even this Court in number of cases has followed the aforesaid principle of law. Accordingly, it is well settled that while considering the transfer of a matrimonial dispute/case, at the instance of the wife, the Court is to consider the family condition of the wife, the custody of the minor child, economic condition of the wife, her physical health and earning capacity of the husband and most important the convenience of the wife i.e. she cannot travel alone without assistance of a male member of her family, connectivity of the place to and fro from her place of residence as well as bearing of the litigation charges and travelling expenses.

8.

In view of the facts mentioned above and the judgments i.e. Sumita Singh's case (supra), Rajani Kishor Pardeshi's case (supra) and N.C.V. Aishwarya's case (supra) passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, this Court deems it appropriate to allow the present petition, subject to the following conditions:- a) The petition filed by respondent husband under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act,1955, bearing No.241/2019 titled as Harpreet Singh vs. Harpreet Kaur, pending in the Court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Mohali is transferred to a Court of competent jurisdiction at Hoshiarpur.

b) The ld. District Judge, Mohali is directed to transfer complete record pertaining to the aforesaid case to District Judge, Hoshiarpur.

c) The parties are directed to appear before the District & Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur.

d) The District Judge, Hoshiarpur will assign the said petition to the Court of competent jurisdiction. 9.

The concerned Court at Hoshiarpur will make all endeavour to refer the case before the Mediation and Conciliation Centre for exploring the possibility of some amicable settlement between the parties.

10.

The Court concerned, where the litigation pending between the parties, will accommodate them with one date in one calendar month.

11.

I am supported by the decisions rendered by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in TA No. 1315/2022, Rohini Arora v Nitin Talwar; TA No. 1322 of 2022, Jaswinder Kaur v Gurvinderjeet Singh; and TA No. 1323 of 2022, Usha Rani v Karmajit Singh. Disposed of.

Pending application(s), if any, stands disposed of. November 14, 2022 ( NIDHI GUPTA ) Vijay Asija JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned YES/NO Whether Reportable YES/NO