POOJA P.S. Vs. NAVEEN NARENDRAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The wife and her parents in law are before this Court, seeking transfer of proceedings filed against each other before the Family Courts at Ernakulam and Kollam. The wife is the petitioner in Tr.P.(C) No. 326 of 2020, seeking transfer of O.P.No.1224 of 2020 (Annexure -A), a petition filed by the husband seeking a decree of divorce and O.P.No.1235 of 2020 (Annexure - B), a petition filed by the husband seeking an order for the permanent custody of the child. Both the cases are pending before the Family Court, Ernakulam. The parents of the husband have filed Tr.P.(C) No.411 of 2020, seeking to transfer O.P.No.789 of 2020 (Annexure - C) filed by the wife against the husband and his parents, seeking a decree for recovery of money and gold ornamnets, before the Family Court, Kollam. As the parties are common and the transfer petitions are filed for transfer of proceedings as against each other, these transfer petitions are being disposed of by this common judgment. Tr.P.(C) No. 326 of 2020 is treated as the leading case. The facts and the parties are being referred to in Tr.P(C) 326 of 2020, unless otherwise specifically mentioned, for the sake of convenience.

(2.) The case of the petitioner in Tr.P(C) 326 of 2020, in brief, is that, she is the estranged wife of the respondent. They have a 2 1/2 year old son born in their wedlock. The respondent has filed Annexure-A seeking a decree for divorce and Annexure-B seeking a decree for guardianship and custody of their minor child before the Family Court, Ernakulam. The petitioner has filed Annexure-C before the Family Court, Kollam, seeking a decree for return of money and gold ornaments. The sole intention of the respondent is to harass the petitioner by making a travel from Kollam to Ernakulam to contest Annexures A and B. The distance from Kollam to Ernakulam on one side is more than 150kms. The petitioner's parents are aged and infirm. The petitioner has a minor son who is only 2 1/2 years old. It would be extremely difficult for the petitioner to travel all the way from Kollam to Ernakulam to contest Annexure A and B, before the Family Court, Ernakulam. The petitioner has serious contentions in Annexures - A and B proceedings and, therefore, to meet the ends of justice, Annexures - A and B may be transferred from Family Court, Ernakulam to the Family Court, Kollam.

(3.) The respondent has filed a detailed counter affidavit in Tr.P.(C) No.326 of 2020 and his parents have filed Tr.P.(C) No.411 of 2020 seeking to transfer Annexure -C from the Family Court, Kollam to Family Court, Ernakulam. It is their case that the petitioner has with oblique intentions filed the transfer petition in order to wreak vengeance on them. The parents of the respondent "the petitioners in Tr.P.(C) No.411 of 2020"? are senior citizens and are suffering from various ailments, as discernible from Annexure A-2 medical records. The convenience of the 2 nd petitioner in Tr.P.(C) No.411 of 2020, the mother of the respondent, who is a woman, has to be given due preference when compared to the convenience of the petitioner.