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S.M. Shoba vs. The Inspector of Police & Ors.

Transfer Petition (Crl.) · 2022 INSC 646Decided 15 Jun 2022
Transfer Petition (Crl.) No. 153 of 2021
Vikram Nath

Background

The petitioner, S.M. Shoba, sought to transfer two connected criminal proceedings: a criminal case (C.C. No. 631 of 2014) filed by the Inspector of Police, All Women's Police Station, Madurai South, and a domestic violence complaint under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (Crl.M.P. No. 252 of 2014), from courts in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to a Judicial Magistrate Court in Bangalore, Karnataka. Both petitions were filed under Section 406 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read with the Supreme Court Rules governing transfer petitions.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court heard counsel for both sides at length but declined to go into the merits of the parties' respective arguments at this stage, noting that doing so could prejudice the ongoing litigation in the lower courts. On an overall assessment of the facts and circumstances, the Court found both transfer petitions to be without merit and dismissed them, allowing the underlying criminal and domestic violence proceedings to continue in their original Madurai courts.

Lesson Learnt

A request to transfer a case to a different state's court is not granted merely because a litigant finds it inconvenient; the Supreme Court will dismiss such petitions where there is no substantive ground shown, without commenting on the merits of the underlying dispute.

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

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