TA No.117 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH TA No.117 of 2011 Date of decision : 02.05.2011 Poonam ...Applicant Versus Surjit Singh ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Sandeep Chopra, Advocate for the applicant. Respondent ex parte. 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 ‘Surjit Singh Vs. Poonam’, 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, Chandigarh to the Court of competent jurisdiction at Patiala. 2. Learned counsel for the applicant contends that the criminal proceedings under Section 406, 498-A IPC and petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. filed by the applicant are pending adjudication at Patiala. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant further contends that the applicant was thrown out of the matrimonial home and since then, she TA No.117 of 2011 2 is residing at Patiala along with her parents. The purpose of filing the petition under Section 13 of the Act is only to harass the applicant. She also apprehends threat at the hands of the respondent-husband. 4. A perusal of the office report would reveal that the respondent is deliberately avoiding service. Accordingly, the respondent is proceeded against ex parte. 5. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties. 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. Mrs. Poonam, the applicant-wife, is residing at Patiala. The respondent-husband filed a petition under Section 13 of the Act, which is pending before learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh. It would certainly be difficult for the wife, living at the mercy of her old parents and having no source of income, to attend the court proceedings at Chandigarh. There is no male member in the family to accompany the applicant to Chandigarh for attending the Court proceedings. 8. Considering the fact that the applicant is a resident of TA No.117 of 2011 3 Patiala 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 ‘Surjit Singh Vs. Poonam’ is withdrawn from the Court of learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, and is transferred to the Court of competent jurisdiction at Patiala. The entire record pertaining to the petition under Section 13 of the Act shall be sent by the trial Court at Chandigarh to the learned District Judge, Patiala, within three weeks, who will either himself dispose it of or entrust it to any other Court of competent jurisdiction. 10. The parties shall appear before the Court of learned District Judge, Patiala, on 02.06.2011. 02.05.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) atulsethi JUDGE Note : Whether to be referred to Reporter ? Yes / No