Essential to consider woman’s conduct when she seeks transfer of matrimonial case: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently said that a woman's conduct in a matrimonial case must be taken into consideration while deciding her plea for a transfer of such litigation from one court to another. .Justice Archana Puri made the observation while rejecting a plea moved by a woman for the transfer of a petition filed by her husband under Section 11 (void marriages) of the Hindu Marriage Act from the family court at Jhajjar to Rupnagar. “No doubt, it is settled law that the convenience of the woman ought to be taken into consideration, while adjudicating upon the question of the transfer of the litigation against her, but simultaneously, it is also very essential to take into consideration the conduct of the woman,” the Court said..The couple in the present case had married in 2016 and have two children. The husband had moved the family court in Jhajjar (Haryana) in 2020 to declare their marriage void.The woman sought a transfer of the matter to Rupnagar (Punjab) on the ground that she is living with her aged parents and it is difficult for her to appear for the matter in Jhajjar, which is at a distance of 350 kilometres from her residence..The High Court, however, noted that the woman was earlier married to another man and that she had married her current husband without seeking divorce from the earlier husband. The current husband claimed that he was not aware of the woman's previous marriage when he married her. Rather, the current husband said that he came to know of her earlier marriage when he found documents concerning litigation between the woman and her first husband. The Court noted that the woman had continued matrimonial litigation with her previous husband to “extract” maintenance from him, while keeping her current husband in the dark..The Court also found that she had filed a case of cruelty against the previous husband, in which he was eventually acquitted. “Furthermore, it is necessary to make mention that the petition under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, for dissolution of marriage by way of decree of divorce with mutual consent, qua the previous husband of the applicant, was filed by her on 30.11.2019 and the same was decided on 12.06.2020,” the Court noted further. The previous husband had to pay ₹5.15 lakhs to the woman as part of the settlement for divorce, the order revealed further..Taking note of all these facts, the Court called the woman’s conduct reprehensible and dismissed her transfer plea. “The applicant had the guts to file an application for seeking transfer ... The detail of the litigation, initiated at the instance of the applicant (woman), against her previous husband, while keeping the respondent i.e. the second husband in darkness, reveals that she continued to pursue and extract money from her previous husband. The greed is writ large on the part of the applicant. Considering this conduct of the applicant, absolutely, no case is made out to allow the transfer application,” the August 6 order said..Advocate Dhruv Khanna represented the petitioner.Advocate SS Mor represented the respondent..[Read Judgment]