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Ruchika Swain v. Sandeep Kumar Mallick

Transfer Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 611Decided 4 Oct 2021
Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 833 of 2020
Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

The wife filed a transfer petition seeking to move her husband's divorce case (H.M.O.P. No.106/2019) from the Court of the Senior Civil Judge, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, to the Family Court at Cuttack, Odisha, citing the difficulty of attending proceedings far from home.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court declined to transfer the case, holding that the interest of justice was better served by letting the proceedings continue at Vizianagaram, but conditioned this on the husband paying the wife Rs. 10,000 on every date she attended court, to cover her travel, boarding, and lodging expenses. The Court also directed the Vizianagaram court to decide the matrimonial case on merits as expeditiously as possible, and in any event within one year.

Lesson Learnt

Instead of shifting a matrimonial case to a more convenient city, courts can keep the case where it is while ordering the other spouse to bear the travelling party's costs, balancing fairness without disrupting the proceedings.

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

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