ORDER :

1. While the first transfer petition is by the wife seeking transfer of the divorce petition filed by the husband in the Family Court at Pune, Maharashtra, the second transfer petition is by the husband seeking transfer of the petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the wife before the Family Court, Saket, New Delhi.

2. Heard the learned counsel on both sides.

3. The parties got married on 19.11.2015 at Delhi. It appears that disputes arose between the parties and the parties started living separately from 12.01.2019.

4. The husband filed a petition for divorce on 07.05.2019 before the Family Court, Pune, Maharashtra. After the receipt of notice in the said petition, the wife came up with the Transfer Petition No. 1264 of 2019. The transfer petition was filed in the first week of July2019. Thereafter, the wife, perhaps as a counterblast, filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights before the Family Court, Saket, New Delhi on 15.07.2019. Upon receipt of notice in the said petition, the husband has come up with Transfer Petition No. 2168 of 2019.

5. The main ground on which the wife seeks transfer of the husband’s divorce petition from Pune to New Delhi is that she has no independent source of income and that since the husband is not even paying any maintenance, she is entitled to have the divorce petition transferred to the Family Court in New Delhi, so that the petition for divorce filed by the husband could be tried together with the petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by her.

6. The main ground on which the husband opposes the transfer petition filed by the wife, is that his own petition for divorce was prior in point of time and that therefore under Section 21A(2)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the petition filed by the wife subsequently, is liable to be transferred to Pune. The husband has offered to bear the expenses for the travel of the wife from Delhi to Pune. The husband further states that his father is suffering from seizures and asthma and that his mother has undergone a cervical biopsy recently and that therefore it is not possible for him to leave his aged parents and travel to Delhi, for conducting the proceedings.

7. I carefully considered the rival contentions.

8. At the outset it should be pointed out that the claim of the petitioner that she is unemployed and that she has no independent source of income and that she is dependent upon her parents, is not seriously disputed by the husband. On the contrary the husband has attempted to take advantage of the averment of the wife about her being unemployed, by claiming in ground no. (F) that no inconvenience will be caused to the wife, who is unemployed, if she is made to attend the proceedings in Pune. The claim of the wife that she is not receiving any maintenance, is also not disputed. Therefore, considering the fact that the marriage was also solemnized in Delhi, the petition for transfer filed by the wife deserves to be allowed and the one filed by the husband deserves to be dismissed.

9. The learned counsel appearing for the husband places heavy reliance upon Section 21A(2)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 in support of his contention that a petition filed later in point of time should be transferred to the Court in which a petition under the Act had been filed prior in point of time. But the said contention is misconceived, as can be seen from the plain language of Section 21A in entirety, which reads as follows:

“21A. Power to transfer petitions in certain cases:

(1) Where (a) a petition under this Act has been presented to a district court having jurisdiction by a party to a marriage praying for a decree for judicial separation under section 10 or for a decree of divorce under section 13.

(b) another petition under this Act has been presented thereafter by the other party to the marriage praying for a decree for judicial separation under section 10 or for a decree of divorce under section 13 on any ground, whether in