The Supreme Court declined the wife’s petition to transfer the divorce proceedings filed by her husband from a family court in Mangaluru to a family court in Mumbai.
The Court also refused to annul a marriage in which the couple had lived together for only forty days before separating, under Article 142 of the Constitution, which grants the Supreme Court the power to issue any order necessary to ensure “complete justice” in a case.
The bench hearing the case comprised Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar, who expressed hope that the parties would act with common sense.
“We do not find this to be a fit case for exercise of power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India as good sense may prevail on the parties. They had lived together only for 40 days. It takes time to settle down in marriage,” the Court observed.
The highest court recently heard a transfer petition filed by a Canadian permanent resident who sought the transfer of her husband’s divorce proceedings from a family court in Mangaluru to a family court in Mumbai.
Both parties claimed a breakdown in the marriage, with the wife alleging mistreatment by her in-laws, which led to her husband sending her to Mumbai and cutting off contact with her. After being denied entry into her marital residence, the wife filed a police report, while the husband initiated divorce proceedings.
The husband contended that he had made several unsuccessful attempts to reconcile the marriage, including mediation. The Supreme Court, after considering the parties’ status, the husband’s living situation with his elderly parents, and the wife’s previous participation in several videoconferencing mediation sessions, denied the transfer petition.
“She can travel to Mangaluru to attend the hearing of the case and can also seek exemption from appearance whenever required…in case she feels like seeking reimbursement of expenses, she shall be at liberty to file application before the court concerned, which may be examined on its own merits,” the order stated.
