Calcutta High Court shows "leniency towards the wife"; allows transfer plea in divorce case

The Calcutta High Court allowed a wife's plea to transfer a divorce case filed by her husband, while noting that travelling to the court, situated 155 km away, at odd hours of the day, would cause her physical hardship [Sandipa Gupta v. Sri Suraj Gupta]..Justice Ananda Kumar Mukherjee examined several factors while granting the relief, including the fact that the husband had some type of employment, and that she was a housewife having no means of earning to bear the financial burden of travelling such a long distance."I am inclined to draw support from the principle of “showing leniency towards the wife”, as laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court..." said the single-judge. .The judge also considered that travelling at odd hours of the day would cause physical hardship to the wife, and that she could not be put to such hardship especially since the husband filed the suit of divorce without any attempt to restore the marital relationship..The wife had sought the High Court's intervention to transfer the divorce case from Coochbehar to Siliguri, where she was residing with her mother.She informed the Court that the distance between her residence and the trial court was about 155 kilometres, which took her five and half hours to travel.The wife also submitted that the cost of travelling was too high and expressed an apprehension that her husband might assault her..On the other hand, the Court was informed that the husband was a contractual worker with a marginal monthly income, and was suffering from cardiac ailments which required immediate surgery.Additionally, it was claimed that the wife voluntarily left the matrimonial home within 15 days of being married, and thus, the husband moved for divorce on the ground of cruelty. .The Court was inclined to draw support from the principle of “showing leniency towards the wife”, as laid down by the Supreme Court in the judgment of Madhu Saxena v. Pankaj Saxena.Therefore, the case was directed to be transferred to the District Judge, Darjeeling, who was directed to assign the suit to a competent court at Siliguri for trial and disposal..The petitioner was represented by Advocates Sanjay Mazoomdar and Sukanya Adhikary, while the opposite party was represented by Advocates Subhasish Mishra and Swarup Das..[Read Order]