Supreme Court Transfers Matrimonial Case Citing Wife’s Hardship and Distance from Home.


31 October 2025 Divorce Law >> Family Law  

In an order that highlights the commitment of the judiciary towards ensuring fairness and convenience in matrimonial litigation, the Supreme Court of India has allowed a transfer petition filed by Soniya Devi, directing that the matrimonial proceedings pending before Guwahati be transferred to Panipat in Haryana. A judgment was passed by a bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih on October 31, 2025.

This case arises out of matrimonial disputes between the parties, Soniya Devi and Pankaj Kumar, who got married on May 25, 2015. The spouses are blessed with two children—a female child born in 2016 and a male child born in 2021. Due to marital discord, the husband, Pankaj Kumar, filed a divorce case under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, before the Family Court at Kamrup (M), Guwahati. The wife, Soniya Devi, has filed the instant application before this Court seeking transfer of the case to the Family Court at Panipat, Haryana, on grounds of extreme inconvenience and vast distance from her residence, which is about 1,500 kilometers away from Guwahati.

 

 

The matter having been taken up, the respondent appeared through videoconferencing and apprised this Court that he had filed a counter affidavit though the same has not been brought on record. He stated that the allegations against him were without substance. However, he expressed no serious objection to the proposed transfer.

After weighing the two sides' arguments, the Bench held that the petitioner would suffer immense inconvenience if she was compelled to continue attending the proceedings in the court of Guwahati. Considering this and the respondent’s non-opposition, the Court granted the transfer petition. The Bench ordered that the divorce petition and the pending maintenance proceedings be remitted to the Family Court at Panipat. The parties were ordered to appear before the transferee court on December 5, 2025.

The Supreme Court made it clear that, because of the transfer, the allegations made by the petitioner will not be considered admitted by the respondent. The judgment also contained a practical instruction to encourage an amicable settlement: the presiding officer of the Family Court, Panipat, was requested to attempt mediation before taking up the matter for hearing. Finally, the Court granted the respondent liberty to attend further hearings through videoconferencing, if so necessary, another commendable development in the use of technology to facilitate access to justice by the judiciary. 


This decision simply brought into focus the Court's steadfast determination that matrimonial litigation should not become a source of hardship or imbalance in the life of either party, especially when one party would otherwise be obliged to litigate far from his home and support network. The Supreme Court, in balancing procedural fairness with compassion, once again took the humane approach toward matrimonial disputes within the constitutional framework of equal access to justice.


Section 13, Hindu Marriage Act - 1955  

HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955