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Anjali Brahmawar Chauhan v. Navin Chauhan

Review Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 40Decided 22 Jan 2021
Review Petition (Civil) No. 472 of 2018 in Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1252 of 2016
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice Vineet Saran

Background

The petitioner-wife had earlier sought transfer of her husband's matrimonial case (HMA No. 487 of 2015) from the Family Court at Gautambudh Nagar, U.P., to a Family Court in Saket, New Delhi, which the Supreme Court had dismissed, directing instead that the trial proceed via video conferencing. She filed this review petition arguing that no video-conferencing facility existed at the Gautambudh Nagar court, and that an earlier Supreme Court judgment (Santhini vs. Vijaya Venketesh) had held video conferencing impermissible in matrimonial matters.

Decision Breakdown

The Court acknowledged that, ordinarily, it would not have directed video conferencing in matrimonial matters in line with the Santhini precedent. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic had forced all courts to function only through video conferencing since March 2020, it held that the earlier direction should stand in the present extraordinary circumstances, and directed the Gautambudh Nagar Family Court to conduct the trial via video conferencing. The review petition was accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

General legal principles (such as a preference for in-person matrimonial trials) can yield to practical necessity in exceptional circumstances like a pandemic, and courts will adapt procedural safeguards, such as mode of hearing, to ensure cases continue to move forward.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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