TA No.360 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH TA No.360 of 2011 Date of decision : 05.08.2011 Smt. Manisha alias Rozy ...Applicant Versus Sh. Sunil Kumar Chowdhary ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. D.K. Singal, Advocate for the applicant. Mr. V.K. Bali, Advocate, for the respondent. JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (Oral) 1. The present application has been preferred by the applicant- wife, under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, praying for the transfer of the petition titled as ‘Sunil Kumar Chowdhary Vs. Manisha @ Rozy Chowdhary’, filed by the respondent under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for short `the Act'), from the Court of learned Additional District Judge, Patiala, to the Court of competent jurisdiction at Mohali. TA No.360 of 2011 2 2. Learned counsel for the applicant contends that the applicant has filed a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C., which is pending adjudication before the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, Mohali. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant further contends that the applicant is a resident of Mohali, and the purpose of filing the petition under Section 13 of the Act is only to harass the applicant. 4. The learned counsel for the respondent has vehemently opposed the prayer, inter alia, on the ground that the respondent- husband apprehends threat from the family of the applicant. However, he has not been able to substantiate his arguments either by referring to any instance when the family of the applicant tried to harm him or any evidence to justify his assertion. 5. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 6. Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Neelam Kanwar vs Devinder Singh Kanwar, 2001(1) M.L.J. 509 (SC), has observed as under:- “We are mindful of the fact that the petitioner is a lady and first respondent is a male, and, therefore, for convenience of wife, a transfer to the place where the lady is residing, would be preferred by this Court unless, it is shown that there are special reason not to do so. No special reason is shown.” 7. Smt. Manisha, the applicant-wife, is residing at Mohali. TA No.360 of 2011 3 The respondent-husband filed a petition under Section 13 of the Act, which is pending before learned Additional District Judge, Patiala. It would certainly be difficult for the wife, living at the mercy of her widowed mother, having no source of income and saddled with the responsibility of raising her minor daughter, to attend the court proceedings at Patiala. 8. Considering the fact that the applicant is a resident of Mohali and primarily, the convenience of the wife is to be seen, therefore, in my opinion, the balance of convenience is in favour of the applicant-wife and against the respondent. 9. In view of the above, the instant transfer application is allowed and the petition under Section 13 of the Act titled as ‘Sunil Kumar Chowdhary Vs. Manisha @ Rozy Chowdhary’, is withdrawn from the Court of learned Additional District Judge, Patiala, and is transferred to the Court of competent jurisdiction at Mohali. The entire record pertaining to the petition under Section 13 of the Act shall be sent by the trial Court at Patiala to the learned Incharge District Judge, Mohali, within three weeks, who will either himself dispose it of or entrust it to any other Court of competent jurisdiction at Mohali. 10. As regards the contention of learned counsel for the respondent regarding apprehension of threat to his life and liberty at the hands of the family of the applicant, the respondent may approach the competent authority who shall go into the merits of the complaint on priority basis and provide necessary protection in accordance with law. 11. The parties shall appear before the learned District Judge, TA No.360 of 2011 4 Mohali, on 03.09.2011. 05.08.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) atulsethi JUDGE Note : Whether to be referred to Reporter ? Yes / No