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Nitu Devi Somvanshi vs. Satish Kumar Kaushik: Contempt Petition (C) No. 397/2020, with Transfer Petition (C) No. 1877/2017 (Nitu Devi Somvanshi vs. Rajendra Singh Somvanshi @ Tinku)

Not available · 2023 INSC 469Decided 1 May 2023
Not available
J.B. Pardiwala

Background

The petitioner-wife, Nitu Devi Somvanshi, sought transfer of a family court case titled "Rajendra Singh Somvanshi @ Tinku vs. Nitu Devi Somvanshi" (Petition No. 308 of 2017) from the Family Court at Alwar, Rajasthan, to the Family Court at Bhiwani, Haryana. A connected contempt petition (No. 397 of 2020, against Satish Kumar Kaushik) was listed and heard together with this transfer petition.

Decision Breakdown

The respondent's counsel stated he had no objection to the transfer. Having regard to the interests of justice, the Court allowed the transfer petition and directed that the family court proceedings be transferred from Alwar, Rajasthan to Bhiwani, Haryana, with the transferee court asked to dispose of the case expeditiously without unnecessary adjournments. As a consequence of the transfer being allowed, the connected contempt petition was also disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

When both parties to a matrimonial or family dispute agree, the Supreme Court can straightforwardly transfer a pending case to a more convenient court for one of the parties (commonly the wife, on grounds of practical hardship), and connected contempt proceedings tied to the same dispute get resolved along with it.

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

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