Convenience of woman, children have to be considered while transferring matrimonial case: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently reiterated that the convenience of the woman and children has to be looked into while ordering the transfer of a matrimonial dispute. [Jincy V v. Justin].Justice CS Dias, citing various Supreme Court judgments, observed that the law with respect to the transfer of proceedings, particularly matrimonial disputes, is no longer res-integra (a question that has not been examined or passed upon).“The law with respect to transfer of proceedings, particularly matrimonial disputes, is no longer res-integra, in view of the categoric declaration of law by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sumitha Sing V. Kumar Sanjay and another, Mona Aresh Goel V. Aresh Satya Goel, Vaishali Shridhar Jagtap V. Shridhar Vishwanath Jagtap and Santhini V. Vijaya Venkatesh. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that it is the convenience of the woman and children that has to be looked into, while ordering the transfer of a case from one Court to another,” the Court held in its order..The Court was considering a petition moved by a married woman seeking to transfer the proceedings in a matrimonial dispute between herself and her estranged husband from the Family Court, Irinjalakkuda to the Family Court, Thrissur.The petitioner’s case was that she and her husband, from whom she is separated, have a son together. But due to the matrimonial cruelty that was meted out to her by the husband, she was constrained to leave the matrimonial home with her child and is now residing at her parents' house.She had filed a petition for a decree for the return of patrimony and gold ornaments. The respondent husband contested the proceeding and filed a case for restitution of conjugal rights..The Court, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case, agreed to transfer the case from the Family Court, Irinjalakkuda to the Family Court, Thrissur. The judge held,"...I am inclined to exercise the discretionary powers of this Court under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure and order the transfer of Annexure A1, so that the cases can be consolidated and jointly tried, which in turn would save precious judicial time and avoid conflict of decisions.".Advocate Ajeesh S Brite represented the petitioner, while Advocate Rajesh Chakyat represented the respondent..[Read Order]