Punjab and Haryana High Court: H.S. Madaan, J. allowed the transfer application for the convenience of the wife in the divorce petition.
An application for the transfer of divorce petition was made by the applicant on the ground of financial constraint.
The brief facts of the case were that applicant Rajnish Kaur was the estranged wife of Sukhwinder Singh on account of matrimonial discord between the spouses. The spouses had a fight on the demand of the dowry raised by the respondent and his family and which the applicant could not get conceded from her parents. Thereby applicant with his minor son turned out of matrimonial home and shifted to his parent’s house. A divorce petition was filed against the respondent in Ludhiana despite the fact that such court does not have any jurisdiction. Also, it was difficult for the applicant to attend the dates of hearing due to financial constraint. Thus, the present application was filed.
The Court opined that the in matrimonial dispute between the spouse conveniences of wife should be looked. The reference was made to the case of Bhartiben Ravibhai Rav v. Ravibhai Govindbhai Rav, (2017) 6 SCC 785 in which the Supreme Court allowed the application for transfer of divorce petition to a place where the wife was residing considering various factors including the distance between the places where divorcee petition had been instituted. Reference was also made to the case of Apurva v. Navtej Singh, 2016 SCC OnLine P&H 3138, in which it was held that Generally, it is the wife’s convenience, which must be looked at by the Courts while deciding the transfer application. The application was thus allowed and the petition was transferred to the court of competent jurisdiction for disposal in accordance with the law.[Rajnish Kaur v. Sukhwinder Singh, 2019 SCC OnLine P&H 1422, decided on 14-08-2019]
