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The Supreme Court recently emphasized that custody cases under the Guardians and Wards Act cannot be transferred from one court to another based solely on the concerns of the disputing parties.
The court made this observation while rejecting a wife’s request to shift the trial in a custody case from Chandigarh to Delhi.
The single-judge bench said that the welfare of the child is of utmost importance in such cases Dipankar Dutta written down.
“No transfer order should be issued based on mere assumptions and fears of the parties. Since the interest of the child is of paramount importance, this court finds no reason to grant the request for transfer at this stage,” the court’s order dated September 22 stated.
The matter related to a custody case pending in Chandigarh. The husband had approached the Family Court under Section 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act seeking custody of his son.
The woman worked in Panchkula (Haryana), where she also lived with her son. However, she applied for transfer of custody case as she had a transferable job and was about to be posted from Haryana.
She therefore requested that the custody battle be continued in Delhi, where a marital dispute was already pending between her and her estranged husband.
The husband rejected the transfer request on the grounds that Delhi was more than 250 kilometers away from the child’s current residence.
The Supreme Court, in turn, refused to transfer the case from Chandigarh.
“Panchkula continues to be the official residence of the plaintiff-wife and it is also undisputed that Chandigarh is the place of residence of both her and the child,” the court observed.
The transfer request was therefore rejected.
Lawyers Akanksha Sisodia and Pulkit Tare represented the wife.
Lawyers Setu Niket, Esha Mazumdar, Azmat Hayat Amanullah and Chaitanya Kamal appeared for the husband.
September 2023 Supreme Court Transfer Application Order.pdf
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