The convenience of the wife is paramount in transfers of matrimonial proceedings under Section 24 CPC.

O R D E R

The wife has filed the present petition seeking transfer of I.D.O.P.No.310 of 2019 from the file of the learned Family Court at Nagercoil, to the file of Learned Family Court at Chennai.

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner / wife submits that the marriage between the petitioner and the respondent was solemnized on 07.03.2011 at Kanikkai Madha Temple, Rajavur (North), as per the Christian rites and customs. The respondent filed a petition in I.D.O.P.No.310 of 2019 under Section 10(1) (ix) (x) of Indian Divorce Act , on the file of the Family Court, Kanyakumari District, Nagercoil, seeking divorce. The learned counsel further submits that the petitioner is residing at Chennai, and it is difficult for her to travel a distance of about 700 kilometers for every hearing from Chennai to Nagercoil.

3. Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondent would submit that the case is posted for trial, and if the transfer petition is allowed, it would cause serious prejudice to the respondent/ husband. The learned counsel further submit that though the petition was filed in the year 2019, the petitioner / wife chose to file the Counter only in the year 2022. Due to the non-cooperation of the petitioner / wife, the progress of the case has been unnecessarily delayed.

4. I have gone through the affidavit filed in support this petition and I find merit in the submissions made by the learned counsel on either side.

5. At this juncture, it may be apposite to cite the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in N.C.V.Aishwarya vs. A.S.Saravana Karthik (MANU/SC/1211/2022 : 2022 Live Law (SC) 627) held at paras 9 and 10, which reads 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 socio- economic paradigm in the Indian society, generally, it is the wife's convenience which must be looked at while considering transfer. (emphasis supplied)

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. It is also relevant to refer the decision made by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in TR.CMP(MD)No.108 of 2010 dated

03.03.2011, wherein, it has observed as below:-

''18.It is true that section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act , has been amended by insertion of proviso of (iii)(a) to section 19. Of Course, this amended section 19(iii)(a) gives special preference to the wife to file a petition or defending the case of the husband before the Court within whose jurisdiction she resides. The intention of the legislator is to safe-guard the interest and rights of the women, who are being subjected to harassment and cruelty. But this special preference conferred under section 19 (iii)(a) of the shall not be used to wreck vengeance on the husband. There must be a justifiable cause to select the jurisdiction of th