Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Smt. Subhra Basu vs Sri Sourish Kumar Basu on 2 March, 2016
1 (140) 02.03.2016
(p.j.) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL REVISIONAL JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE C.O. No. 4337 of 2015 Smt. Subhra Basu
-versus-
Sri Sourish Kumar Basu Mr. Manisankar Chattopadhyay ... for the petitioner Mr. Kushal Paul Ms. Soma Chowdhury (Bandhu) Ms. Anwesha Bhattacharjee ... for the opposite party This is an application under section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure at the instance of the petitioner wife praying for, transfer of the Matrimonial Suit No. 675 of 2015 filed by the opposite party husband, claiming a decree for dissolution of marriage and pending before the Court of the learned 1st Additional District Judge at Serampore to the Court of the learned Additional District Judge at Raghunathpur, Purulia. On January 19, 2016 when this application was taken up for hearing, this Court passed an interim order directing stay of the aforementioned matrimonial suit pending before the learned Additional District Judge, Serampore, Hooghly till March 18, 2016 or until further orders whichever is earlier.
Today this application is taken up for final hearing after the parties have filed their respective affidavits. It is the case of the petitioner that after being compelled to leave the matrimonial home 2 she along with her minor child of five years are presently residing with her parents at Raghunathpur. She has no independent source of income nor is she receiving any maintenance from the opposite party who is serving as a medical representative. She has been constrained to file an application under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, against the opposite party, before the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Raghunathpur which is being contested by the opposite party husband. According to the petitioner, the distance between Raghunathpur and Serampore is 300 kms. each way and she is facing great hardship to contest the matrimonial suit before the Court of the learned First Additional District Judge at Serampore by travelling the said long distance without having the financial means to bear the travelling expenses and other costs.
In the affidavit in opposition, the opposite party husband has categorically stated that the petitioner's mother owns a house at Serampore and as such the petitioner does not face any difficulty to stay at Serampore for the purpose of contesting the matrimonial suit. The petitioner has not disputed the fact that her mother has a house at Serampore. Mr. Chattopadhyay, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that it is not the case of the opposite party that the petitioner resides at Serampore. Admittedly in the plaint filed in the matrimonial suit the opposite party has accepted the fact that the petitioner along with her minor child are residing with her parents at Adra in the district of Purulia. He further submitted that admittedly the opposite party is a medical representative and he is not paying any amount of maintenance either on account of the petitioner or for the minor child. According to Mr. Chattopadhyay, even if it is accepted for the sake of argument that the petitioner's mother has a house at Serampore but for the purpose of contesting the matrimonial suit the petitioner has to travel the long distance of 300 kms. each way between Adra and Serampore. 3 Having considered the facts of the instant case, I find that undisputedly the opposite party is not paying any money to the petitioner on account of the maintenance for herself or for the minor child. The opposite party could not dispute the long distance the petitioner has to travel from Adra to Serampore to contest the matrimonial suit even her mother has a house where they do not reside. In the plaint filed in the matrimonial suit the opposite party himself has admitted that the petitioner is residing with her parents at Adra in the district of Purulia. Considering all these facts, I find substance in the submission of Mr. Chattopadhyay that the petitioner has been able to substantiate the hardship she is facing to contest the matrimonial suit before the Court of the learned 1st Additional District Judge at Serampore. Accordingly, the Matrimonial Suit No. 675 of 2015 (Sri Sourish Kumar Basu vs. Smt. Subhra Basu) is withdrawn from the Court of the learned 1st Additional District Judge at Serampore, Hooghly and the same is transferred to the Court of the learned Additional District Judge at Raghunathpur, Purulia. The learned District Judge, Hooghly is directed to forthwith transmit all the records of the Matrimonial Suit No. 675 of 2015 (Sri Sourish Kumar Basu vs. Smt. Subhra Basu) to the Court of the learned District Judge, Purulia who shall, in turn, transmit the same to the Court of the learned Additional District Judge at Raghunathpur, Purulia.
With the above directions, the application being CO 4337 of 2015 stands disposed of. However, there shall be no order as to costs.
Certified website copies of the order, if applied for, be urgently made available to the parties, subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.
(Ashis Kumar Chakraborty, J.)