PETITION TRANSFER FROM COURT
In the pandemic times, a number of transfer petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court. A transfer petition is a petition filed in the court seeking transfer of the case from state agencies to a central body or from one High Court to another or from High Court to Supreme Court. This is done usually to ensure a fair trial, ensure justice, avoid delay or inconvenience, etc.
Transfer petition under CPC
In civil cases, the provision of power of the Supreme Court to transfer the petitions is dealt with under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. It states that the Supreme Court can transfer the petition from a High Court or other Civil Court in one State to a High Court or other civil court in any other State. This can be done on an application by a party and after the SC being heard by such parties, can transfer the petition to make it convenient in achieving justice for the party if the court feels so.
If the court dismisses such a petition then it can order the applicant to pay a maximum sum of two thousand rupees to the opposer of application.
Divorce transfer petition in Supreme Court
In a divorce petition filed in the Supreme Court, the husband files a divorce petition in the state where he resides and the wife usually moves to her home/parent state. So in such cases, the wife moves for the transfer of such a petition on the grounds that she cannot afford to travel to that place where the petition is normally filed or she cannot leave her child behind, or that she faces threats when she goes to defend the proceedings. But the court does not always take a sympathetic view towards her as the court cannot always make the husband suffer. The husband can take a defence that if the wife claims to have a minor child then grandparents can be asked to look after the child and so merely based on having a minor the transfer petition cannot be granted to her (Anandita Das v. Sirjit Dey (2006)).
In Priti Sharma v. Manjeet Sharm (2005), it was held that a wife cannot merely give a reason for the threat to her for the transfer petition, she has to give proper proof for the same. In the case of a wife seeking transfer because she was unemployed and unable to commute, the Court stated unequivocally that “merely because the petitioner is a lady does not mean she cannot travel,” and the transfer petition was dismissed.