IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE THOMAS P.JOSEPH MONDAY, THE 6TH SEPTEMBER 2010 / 15TH BHADRA 1932 Tr.P(C).No. 229 of 2010() ----------------------- OP.1385/2010 of FAMILY COURT,KOZHIKODE .................. PETITIONER : ------------------ RAMILA, D/O. HANEEFA, AMMINIPARAMBATH HOUSE, P.O.VETTOM, THEENDAPPADI, TIRUR TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.K.K.MOHAMED RAVUF RESPONDENT : -------------------- KAYILADATH SHIHABUDDIN, S/O. ABDUL RAHIMAN,'HIRA MAHAL', PALEKKATTIRI, PARAKULAM, PANTHEERANKAVU.P.O. KOZHIKODE-676 018. BY ADVS. SRI.MANJERI S. SUNDER RAJ SMT.K.K.PREETHA THIS TRANSFER PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 06/09/2010, ALONG WITH TPC NO. 248 OF 2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: Mn THOMAS P JOSEPH, J. --------------------------------------- Tr.P.(C) NOS.229 OF 2010 and 248 OF 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 6th day of September, 2010. ORDER These petitions are filed by the wife and husband respectively seeking transfer their cases pending in Family Courts at Kozhikode and Malappuram. The husband has filed O.P.No.388 of 2010 in Family Court, Kozhikode seeking restitution of conjugal rights. The wife seeks transfer of that case to Family Court, Malappuram where she has filed O.P.No.471of 2010 against the husband and mother in-law for return of gold ornaments and other reliefs. The husband wants O.P.No.477 of 2010 to be transferred from Family Court, Malappuram to Family Court, kozhikode. Learned counsel for the wife has argued that the lady is aged about 25 years, is a resident of Vettom in Tirur Taluk which is far away from Kozhikode while it will be convenient to her if the case pending in Family Court, Kozhikode is transferred to Family Court, Malappuram. Learned counsel for the husband contends that if the case in Family Court, Kozhikode is transferred to Family Court, Malappuram and the case filed by the wife in the latter court continuous to be pending in that court, the husband has to travel long distance. Moreover, he is also facing severe threat from relatives of the wife. It is revealed from the submissions of learned counsel on both sides that the wife is residing at Vettom which is about 30 K.M. away from Tr.P.(C) NOS.229 OF 2010 and 248 OF 2010 2 Malappuram while Kozhikode is about 75 K.Ms away from her place of residence. The husband is a resident of Pantheerankavu, near Kozhikode and the distance from that place to Malappuram is around 45 K.Ms. Of course, the distance stated by learned counsel for the wife is disputed by the learned counsel for the husband but it would appear that the distance from place of residence of the wife to Kozhikode is more than the distance from place of residence of the husband to Malappuram. The Supreme Court decisions in SUMITA SINGH v KUMAR SANJAY AND ANOTHER (AIR 2002 SC 396) and ARTI RANI ALIAS PINKI DEVI AND ANOTHER v DHARMENDRA KUMAR GUPTA (2008 (9) SCC 353) has held that while considering request for transfer of matrimonial proceedings convenience of the wife is to be considered. True, that does not necessarily mean that inconvenience of the husband cannot be looked into. True, O.P.No.477 of 2010 is filed by the wife at Family Court, Malapuram against the mother and sister in-law of the husband also. But, it is not as if they are required to attend the court on every posting date. So far the husband is considered he is aged only 30 years and the distance of 45 K.Ms from his place of residence to Malappuram cannot be said to cause that much hardship as the wife aged about 25 years has to suffer if she is to travel a longer distance from her place of residence to Kozhikode. Considering the comparative hardship of the parties, I am persuade to think that the hardship of the wife outweighs that of the husband if the cases are Tr.P.(C) NOS.229 OF 2010 and 248 OF 2010 3 tried at Kozhikode. In the circumstances, I am inclined to allow the request of the wife. 1) Resultantly, these petitions are disposed of as below Tr.P.(C) No.229 of 2010 is allowed in the following lines: i). O.P.No.385 of 2010 of Family Court, Kozhikode is withdrawn from that court and made over to Family Court, Malappuram for trial and disposal. ii) The Transferor court shall transmit records of that case to the transferee court with due intimation to the counsel on both sides as to the date of appearance of parties in the transferee court. iii)Transferee court shall, as far as possible post the cases on the same dates. iv) It is made clear that except when physical presence of the parties is necessary, they can appear in the transferee court through their counsel. 2) Tr.P.(C) No.248of 2010 is dismissed. THOMAS P JOSEPH,JUDGE. pm