The main legal point established in the judgment is that the jurisdiction of the Family Court is limited to the specific clauses of the Explanation to Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, and disputes must fall within these clauses for the Family Court to have jurisdiction.

COMMON ORDER :

Transfer of two suits pending on the file of the XV Assistant City Civil Court, Chennai, namely OS Nos.4545 of 2020 and 4968 of 2020, is sought for in these two Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petitions.

2. The suit in OS No.4545 of 2020 which is subject matter of the Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petition No.663 of 2021, was filed by the petitioners in Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petition No.663 of 2021, seeking a permanent injunction restraining the defendants therein from interfering with the alleged dispossession of the plaintiffs from the suit schedule property except under due process of law and for costs.

3. The defendants in the said suit are the husband of the first petitioner his brother and mother. The case of the plaintiffs is that the first plaintiff is the wife of N.Srinivasan, first defendant in OS No.4545 of 2020 and the second plaintiff is his minor daughter. Claiming that the husband namely the first defendant in OS No.4545 of 2020 has contributed for purchase of the house and the first plaintiff after her marriage dated 25.01.2006 was living in the suit property along with her husband, the plaintiffs sought for the injunctive relief.

4. It is the contention of the plaintiffs that the marital relationship between her and the first defendant in OS No.4545 of 2020 has become strained and in view of the same, the first defendant had attempted to dispossess her. It is also her claim that the family of the husband is attempting to disinherit the first defendant/her husband in order to deprive them of their due share in the properties. Allegations of cruelty were also made against the third defendant/the mother in law.

5. This suit is resisted by the defendants contending that the first defendant namely husband of the first plaintiff in OS No.4545 of 2020, has nothing to do with the property. According to the defendants, the house was purchased by the father of the first defendant Narayanasamy in the year 1983. It is also stated that the said Narayanasamy, was employed in Tamil Nadu Government Service and he retired as a Joint Secretary. Though the allotment was made by the Housing Board in the year 1983 and the house warming was performed in the year 1983. The Sale Deed was executed in favour of the deceased Narayanasamy on 23.06.1994. Deceased Narayanasamy had executed a registered Settlement Deed in favour of the second defendant in the suit N.Sivakumar, as early as on 14.07.2014, even before the marital relationship between the first plaintiff and the first defendant became strained. Therefore, according to the defendants, the plaintiff has nothing to do with the suit property and the suit for injunction is not maintainable.

6. The second defendant in OS No.4545 of 2020, N.Sivakumar, the settlee under the Settlement Deed dated 14.07.2014 filed a suit in OS No.4968 of 2020 against the first plaintiff in OS No.4545 of 2020 seeking a decree for permanent injunction restraining her from interfering with his peaceful possession of the property. He would claim title under the Settlement Deed dated 14.07.2014 executed by the deceased Narayanasamy.

7. While the above suits are pending before the City Civil Court, Chennai, the first defendant in OS No.4545 of 2020 filed HMOP No.3081 of 2020 on the file of the II Additional Family Court, Chennai seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion. The suit in OS No.4968 of 2020 which was pending on the file of the XVI Assistant City Civil Court was transferred to the XV Assistant City Civil Court to be tried along with the suit in OS No. 4545 of 2020. It is at this stage, the plaintiffs in OS No.4545 of 2020 have come up with Transfer CMP 6/20 No.663 of 2021 and the sole defendant in OS No.4698 of 2020 has filed Transfer CMP No.788 of 2021 seeking transfer of both the suits to the Family Court, Chennai to be tried along with HMOP No.3081 of 2020.

8. This request for transfer is being resisted by the respondents contending that these two suits which relate to prop