With Wife And Minor Son In Surat, 500 Km Away, Gujarat HC Transfers Husband’s Family Suit From Amreli to Surat

The applicant-wife sought transfer under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”) of Family Suit No. 134 of 2025 from the Family Court, Amreli, to the Family Court at Surat.

She submitted that she lived with her minor son in Surat, approximately 500 kilometres from Amreli, and that the husband was not paying court-ordered maintenance, requiring recovery proceedings in Surat. A custody proceeding instituted by the husband was also pending there, as was a criminal case against him.

The husband’s reply relied on his mother’s illness and a ration card said to show the applicant’s residence at Amreli; the applicant maintained that the ration card pre-dated the marriage and was outdated. The husband did not appear at the hearing.

Section 24 CPC empowers the High Court to transfer a suit or proceeding where it considers transfer appropriate.

In exercising that power, the Court considered the parties’ respective convenience and the circumstances of the case, including the applicant’s residence with her minor child, the substantial distance between the courts, and the presence of related proceedings in the proposed transferee court. The Court cited Sumita Singh v. Kumar Sanjay, AIR 2002 SC 396; N.C.V. Aishwarya v. A.S. Saravana Karthik Sha, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1199; and Ruchi Majoo v. Sanjeev Majoo, (2011) 6 SCC 479, without setting out their individual propositions.

The Court found, prima facie, that the applicant and her minor son resided in Surat and that travel from Surat to Amreli involved a distance of about 500 kilometres each way.

It also considered the unpaid maintenance and the related proceedings pending in Surat, including the husband’s own proceeding under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. In the Court’s view, transfer would enable the proceedings to be heard by the same Family Court and would not cause the husband undue hardship, as he could seek to attend by video conference while caring for his mother.

It directed that the Principal Judge, Family Court, Surat, may arrange for the transferred suit to be heard with the other proceedings there. The husband may request to participate by video conference or online, subject to the Family Court’s assessment of whether physical attendance is required at any particular stage.