HON'BLE JUSTICE LAXMI NARAYANA ALISHETTY

ORDER:

This Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petition is filed seeking transfer of H.M.O.P.No.149 of 2022 from the Court of the Principal Senior Civil Judge at Mancherial, Mancherial District to the Court of Principal Senior Civil Judge, Sangareddy.

2. Heard Sri Kasireddy Mohan Chandra, learned counsel for the petitioner. No representation on behalf of respondent despite service of notice. Therefore, the matter is being disposed of basing on the material available on record.

3. As per the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of present Tr.C.M.P., the marriage of the petitioner-wife was solemnized with the respondent-husband on 14.03.2018 at Aryasamaj at Koti, Hyderabad as per the customs and traditions prevailing in their community and soon after marriage, she joined matrimonial house. However, after about two months of her marriage, she was subjected to physical harassment and she returned back to her parents house; that in view of continuous harassment, petitioner filed Domestic Violence Case vide DVC SR No.3683 of 2024 before the Sangareddy Court. The respondent filed HMOP No.149 of 2022 before the Principal Senior Civil Judge Court at Mancherial.

4. It is averred that petitioner is dependent on her parents and she has no independent income and further, the distance between Mancherial and Sangareddy is above 300 KMs and it is very difficult for her to travel and attend every hearing in HMOP No.149 of 2022; that there is a threat to life of petitioner in the hands of the respondent in the event of attending the Court at Mancherial and therefore, seeks to transfer the HMOP NO.149 of 2022 from the Court of Mancherial to the Court of Sangareddy.

5. Learned counsel for petitioner, apart from reiterating the averments made in the Tr.CMP, has contended that the DVC filed by the petitioner is numbered and the same is at the stage of notice to the respondent and further contended that there is a threat to life of petitioner in the hands of the respondent in the event of attending the Court at Mancherial.

6. The underlying principle governing the proceedings under Section 24 of the CPC, seeking transfer of the case, appeal or other proceedings, is enunciated by the Hon’ble Apex Court in catena of judgments and the same was followed by various High Courts.

7. In N.C.V.Aishwarya v. A.S.Saravana Karthik Sha1, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held 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.”

8. The principle of law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in N.C.V.Aishwarya’s case (supra), has been reiterated by the High Court of Bombay in Devika Dhiraj Patil Nee Devika Jayprakash Buttepatil v. Dhiraj Sunil Patil, (2023 SCC OnLine Bom 1926), and observed as under:-

“In a country like India, important decisions such as marriage, divorce are still taken with the guidance and blessings of elders in the family. For a lady to travel alone for the proceedings to a Court where the fate of her marriage is going to be decided without any family member would definitely be a matter of concern and cause not only

1 2022 SCC Online SC 1199

physical inconvenience but also emotional and psychological inconvenience.

9. Further, the High Court of Bombay in Priyank