Poonam vs. State NCT of Delhi
Background
A wife filed a divorce petition in Delhi on the ground of cruelty, claiming the Delhi Family Court had jurisdiction because she and her husband had lived together in Sangam Vihar, Delhi for about one and a half to two years right after their marriage. The Family Court found that the couple had later moved to Gurugram and lived there for several more years before separating, and returned the petition for being filed in the wrong court. The wife appealed, but notably did not include her husband as a respondent in the appeal, only the State of NCT of Delhi was named.
Decision Breakdown
The Bench first noted that the appeal was itself not maintainable because the husband, whose interests were directly at stake, had never been made a party to it. Proceeding to the merits anyway, the Court held that under Section 19(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, jurisdiction lies where the parties "last resided together", not merely anywhere they once lived together. Since the couple had admittedly lived together in Gurugram for over four years after leaving Delhi, and had last stayed together there before separating, Gurugram (not Delhi) was the place of last residence, and the Delhi courts lacked jurisdiction. The appeal was dismissed both for the defect in parties and on merits.
Lesson Learnt
For choosing where to file a divorce petition based on "last resided together," what matters is the couple's final shared home before separation, not an earlier address, and a spouse must always be made a party to any appeal affecting their own case.