Maintaining that travelling at odd hours of day is a physical hardship for wife, Calcutta HC transfers matrimonial case

The Calcutta High Court in the case Smt. Sandipa Gupta (Bhowmick) @ Sandipa Bhowmick v. Sri Suraj Gupta, the court while following the principle of “showing leniency towards the wife” observed and allowed a wife’s plea to transfer Matrimonial Suit to the Court of District Judge, Darjeeling from the Court of Additional District Judge, F.T.C., Coochbehar .

The bench comprising of Justice Ananda Kumar Mukherjee observed and took into account the fact that the husband had filed a suit for divorce directly without making any attempts to restore the marital relationship, and thus, the court opined that the wife cannot be put to such inconvenience by forcing her to travel at odd hours of the day and as the same would amount to a physical hardship for her.

In the present case, a matrimonial suit has been filled by the husband against the petitioner i.e., the wife for divorce on the ground of cruelty. Presently, the wife is residing with her widow mother at Siliguri which is at a distance of more than 100 kilometers from Coochbehar.

It was observed by the court that the husband is having some type of employment but the petitioner/wife is a housewife having no means of earning to bear the financial burden for such a long distance to travel from Siliguri to Coochbehar.

Facts of the Case:

The petitioner/wife had preferred the revisional application under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the application praying for transfer of Matrimonial Suit pending before the Additional District Judge, Fast Track Court, Coochbehar to any other Court at Siliguri of Additional District Judge.

On March 11, 2020, the case of the petitioner/wife that her marriage with the respondent/opposite party (Husband) was solemnized and they stayed together as husband and wife in the house of the opposite party only for 15 days, at Coochbehar.

Further, it was the petitioner/wife case that her husband had filed the Matrimonial suit under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 against the petitioner/wife praying for a decree of divorce as a counterblast of the F.I.R. lodged by her.

It was also submitted by her before the court that since her relationship with her husband is strained, therefore, she feels insecure to travel to Coochbehar Court for the purpose of taking part in the proceedings.

Adding to it, the husband submitted that his wife had voluntarily left the matrimonial home within 15 days of the marriage and the suit for divorce had been filed on the ground of cruelty.

In relation with the transfer of case, it was contended that there is a conveyance facility to conveniently travel to Coochbehar and the petitioner has no cogent ground for preferring this revisional application and thus, the same is liable to be dismissed.

The court while taking into account the arguments advanced by both sides observed and found it appropriate to transfer the Matrimonial Suit from the Court of Additional District Judge, F.T.C., Coochbehar to the Darjeeling Court of District Judge.

Accordingly, the court allowed the revisional petition.

The counsel, Advocate Sanjay Mazoomdar along with Advocate Sukanya Adhikary, appeared for the petitioner.

The counsel, Advocate Subhasish Mishra along with Advocate Swarup Das, appeared for the opposite party.