The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently emphasized that a woman's conduct in matrimonial cases must be considered when deciding her request for the transfer of such litigation from one court to another.

Justice Archana Puri made this observation while denying a woman's plea to transfer a petition filed by her husband under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act (void marriages) from the family court in Jhajjar, Haryana, to Rupnagar, Punjab.

The couple married in 2016 and have two children. In 2020, the husband filed for their marriage to be declared void in the Jhajjar family court. The woman sought to transfer the case to Rupnagar, arguing that she was living with her elderly parents and that the 350-kilometer distance to Jhajjar made it difficult for her to attend the proceedings.

However, the court noted that the woman had previously been married and had entered her current marriage without obtaining a divorce from her first husband. The current husband claimed he was unaware of her prior marriage until he discovered documents related to litigation between the woman and her first husband.

The court observed that the woman had continued legal proceedings with her first husband to secure maintenance while concealing her previous marriage from her current spouse. It also highlighted that she had filed a case of cruelty against her first 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 court also noted that the woman's previous husband had paid ₹5.15 lakhs as part of a divorce settlement. In light of all these factors, the Court deemed the woman's conduct reprehensible and rejected her plea for transferring the case.

Advocate Dhruv Khanna represented the petitioner.