Court No. - 9
Case :- MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 3444 of 2019 Petitioner :- Abhishek Gautam Respondent :- Nidhi Counsel for Petitioner :- Syed Shahnawaz Shah Connect with Case :- TRANSFER APPLICATION (CIVIL) No. - 402 of 2018 Applicant :- Nidhi Sharma Opposite Party :- Abhishek Gautam Counsel for Applicant :- Atul Kumar Pandey,Kaushal Kishore Mani
Hon'ble Anjani Kumar Mishra,J. Heard learned counsel for the parties. These two connected matters are-
(i) A petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, filed by the husband seeking directions for expeditious disposal his divorce petition, pending at Ghaziabad.
and
(ii) A transfer application filed by the wife seeking transfer of the same divorce petition, filed by the husband at Ghaziabad to district Meerut on the ground that the applicant is residing at Meerut and that an application under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, for restitution of conjugal rights has been filed by her and the same is pending consideration at Meerut.
Counsel appearing for the husband has opposed the transfer application on the ground that the wife is not interested in the early disposal of the divorce petition as she has not filed, her written statement, till date.
He also submits that the transfer application be considered and allowed only after the written statement has been filed by the wife.
Sri K.K. Mani, learned counsel appearing on behalf of wife in the transfer application states that the matter is one fit for referring to the mediation centre as there are chances of settlement being arrived at between the parties.
Upon a consideration of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and upon perused the record of the Digitally signed by ANJANI KUMAR MISHRA Date: 2019.06.05 10:59:03 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad transfer application as also the petition under Article 227, this Court is of the considered opinion, all the cases between the parties are better heard and decided at one place, as it would definitely be convenient for all concerned. Moreover, some cases filed by the wife are already pending consideration at Meerut and the husband has not filed any application seeking that transfer.
Under the circumstances, the transfer application is liable to be allowed.
In so far as, the directions for expeditious disposal of the divorce petition is concerned, there is no difficulty in directing expeditious disposal of the divorce petition because, in any case, the family court Act clearly mandates that matrimonial disputes should be tried and disposed of, expeditiously.
Accordingly, I allowed the transfer application and direct that the divorce petition no.1723 of 2015 (Abhishek Gautam Vs. Nidhi Sharma) pending before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Ghaziabad shall stand transferred to Meerut forthwith subject to the stipulation that the applicant/wife shall file her written statement therein positively on or before 15.07.2019.
It is also provided that, in case, the written statement is not filed within the time, specified above the transferee court shall proceed with the divorce petition, ex-parte against the wife.
It is further provided that the transferee court may also explore the possibility of a conciliation between the parties. Such an attempt, in any case, is required to be made, even by statutory mandate.
It is further specified that the attempt at conciliation should be conduced within two and a half months from the date record of the divorce petition is received by the transferee court. In case of failure of conciliation proceedings, the divorce petition shall be proceeded with, expeditiously and attempt will made to take it to its logical end, preferably within a period of six months, thereafter.
The transferee court shall ensure that the petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the wife at Meerut is clubbed with and decided along with the divorce petition.
Subject to the above, the transfer application stand allowed and the petitioner under Article 227 stands disposed of.
Order Date :- 30.5.2019 / Radhika