[2025:RJ-JD:39918]

pHIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR S.B. Civil Transfer Appl. No. 255/2022 Santara W/o Bheru Ram D/o Rameshwarlal, Aged About 22 Years, R/o Village Dediya Ka Bas, Tan Meenda, Tehsil Nava, District nagaur ----applicant Versus Bheruram S/o Peeruram, Aged About 33 Years, R/o Dhula, Jamwaramgarh, Tehsil Jamwaramgarh, District Jaipur Rural.

----Respondent For applicant(s) : Mr. Abhishek Mehta For Respondent(s) : -

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE FARJAND ALI

Order

04/09/2025

1. The instant civil transfer application has been preferred by the applicant-wife seeking transfer of Case No.151/2022, filed by the respondent-husband under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which is presently pending before the learned Family Court, Dausa, to the Court of learned Additional District & Sessions Judge, Kuchaman City.

2. Briefly stated the facts of the case are that the marriage of the applicant and the respondent was solemnized on 28.02.2017 at Tehsil Nava, District Nagaur, according to Hindu rites and customs. It is alleged that after marriage, the respondent and his family members started demanding dowry and subjected the applicant to physical and mental cruelty. On account of persistent harassment and unlawful demands, the applicant was compelled to leave her matrimonial home and has been residing separately at her parental house for the last more than three years.

2.1. The applicant lodged a complaint regarding the cruelty and dowry demands, in pursuance of which an FIR under Sections 498- A and 406 IPC was registered at Police Station Nava, District Nagaur. After investigation, a charge-sheet has been filed against the respondent and his family members for offences under Section 498-A IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The said case is pending before the competent criminal Court at Nagaur.

2.2. The applicant has also filed an application under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking dissolution of marriage, which is pending before the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge, Kuchaman City.

2.3. During pendency of the above proceedings, the respondent instituted Case No.151/2022 under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act before the learned Family Court, Dausa. The applicant contends that she is residing at Village Dadiya Ka Bas, Tehsil Nava, District Nagaur, which is more than 200 kilometers away from Dausa. She has no independent source of income, and it is extremely difficult for her to travel such a long distance along with an attendant to attend the proceedings at Dausa.

2.4. It is further urged that since the applicant has already initiated proceedings at Kuchaman City, and the criminal case is also pending at Nagaur, in the interest of justice and convenience, the case at Dausa deserves to be transferred to Kuchaman City.

3. I have heard learned counsel for the applicant and carefully perused the record.

3.1. This Court has bestowed its anxious consideration upon the matter in hand. At the very outset, it merits reiteration that Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, vests this Court with wide and discretionary powers to transfer any civil proceeding from one Court to another, either upon the application of a party or even suo motu, where the demands of justice so require. The underlying object of this provision is to ensure that justice is effectuated in substance and not defeated by procedural formalism.

3.2. In order to appreciate the ambit of this jurisdiction, it is apposite to recall that the authority conferred under Section 24 is not circumscribed by rigid boundaries. It not only enables the Court to act upon a duly instituted application but also empowers it to exercise this discretion suo motu whenever the ends of justice demand intervention. Thus, the legislative intent underlying the provision is to secure substantive relief rather than to permit procedural rigours to obstruct fair adjudication.

3.3. In this context, reference may be made to the dictum of a Coordinate Bench of thi