Surbhi Dogra vs Siddharth Mahajan
2022 Latest Caselaw 7912 P&H

TA-756-2022 (O&M)                                                        -1-


    IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND
                HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

                                                       TA-756-2022 (O&M)
                                                 Date of decision: 27.07.2022


Surbhi Dogra                                                       ...Petitioner


                                        Versus


Siddharth Mahajan                                                ...Respondent


CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN

Present:-    Mr. B. D. Sharma, Advocate
             for the petitioner.

ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN, J. (Oral)

Prayer in this petition is for transfer of the petition filed by the

respondent-husband under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955,

titled as Siddharth Mahajan vs. Surbhi Dogra, pending before the Family

Court, Amritsar to the competent Court of jurisdiction at Jalandhar.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that on account of

a matrimonial discord, the petitioner has filed a petition under Section 125

Cr.P.C., a complaint under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from

Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and has also got registered FIR No. 136 dated

26.11.2021, under Sections 406, 498-A of the IPC at Jalandhar, which are

pending. It is further submitted that as a counter-blast to the aforesaid cases,

the respondent-husband has filed the present petition under Section 13 of

the Hindu Marriage Act at Amritsar in order to harass the petitioner. It is

further submitted that the petitioner is facing great difficulty in prosecuting

the said case, as there is a distance of about 100 Kms between the aforesaid

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two places.

Learned counsel has relied upon the judgments Sumita Singh

Vs. Kumar Sanjay, 2002 SC 396 and Rajani Kishor Pardeshi Vs. Kishor

Babulal Pardeshi, 2005(12) SCC 237, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court

observed that "while deciding the transfer application, the Courts are

required to give more weightage and consideration to the convenience of

the female litigants and transfer of legal proceedings from one Court to

another should ordinarily be allowed, taking into consideration their

convenience and the Courts should desist from putting female litigants

under undue hardships."

It is well settled that while considering the transfer of a

matrimonial dispute/case at the instance of the wife, the Court is to consider

family condition of the wife, custody of the minor child, economic condition

of the wife, her physical health and earning capacity of the husband and

most important, convenience of the wife i.e. she cannot travel alone without

assistance of a male member of her family, connectivity of the place to and

fro from her place of residence as well as bearing of the litigation charges

and travelling expenses.

After hearing the counsel for the petitioner, considering the fact

that issuance of notice to the respondent has the consequences of staying

further proceedings before the trial Court, otherwise the petitioner-wife will

have to bear the litigation expenses and transportation expenses and in view

of the fact that in case notice of motion is issued, even the

respondent/husband has to bear the litigation expenses and in also in view

of the judgments rendereed in Sumita Singh's case (supra) and Rajani

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Kishor Pardeshi's case (supra), this Court deems it appropriate to allow the

present petition, with the following directions:-

(i) The petition filed under Section 13 of the Hindu

Marriage Act, pending before the Family Court,

Amritsar will be transferred to the competent

Court of jurisdiction at Jalandhar.

(ii) The District Judge, Jalandhar will assign the said

petition to the competent Court of jurisdiction.

(iii) The Family Court, Amritsar is directed to

transfer all the record pertaining to the aforesaid

case to District Judge, Jalandhar.

(iv) The parties are directed to appear before the trial

Court at Jalandhar within a period of 01 month

from today.

However, liberty is granted to the respondent-husband to revive

this petition, if he intends to contest the same, provided that:-

(i) The respondent will clear all the arrears of

maintenance amount, if any, in terms of the

petition filed by the petitioner either under

Section 125 Cr.P.C. or Section 12 of the

Domestic Violence Act or Section 24 of the Hindu

Marriage Act.

(ii) The respondent will file an affidavit giving

undertaking to pay Rs.1,000/- per day, to the

petitioner for attending the Court proceedings at

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Amritsar, on each and every date of hearing.

(iii) The respondent will bring a demand draft of

Rs.25,000/- towards the litigation expenses of the

petitioner to pursue the case at Amritsar, in case

the respondent opts to contest this petition.

27.07.2022                                     (ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN)
Waseem Ansari                                          JUDGE


                Whether speaking/reasoned                     Yes/No

                Whether reportable                            Yes/No




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