The Bombay High Court has ruled that in cases of domestic violence, only the wife has the right to choose the court where the case will be heard.
The judgment came after a husband requested that a domestic violence case filed against him before a magistrate be transferred to the family court where the couple’s divorce proceedings were already pending.
Justice Rajesh Patil rejected the husband’s plea, imposed a fine of INR 1 lakh, and directed that the amount be paid to his estranged wife.
The husband had argued that since multiple cases were pending before both the Bandra Magistrate’s Court and the Family Court, there was a possibility of conflicting judgments. However, the court dismissed this reasoning, stating that his arguments were not valid.
The bench also observed that the husband had wasted the court’s time, accepting advocate Gayatri Gokhale’s request (representing the wife) to impose a penalty for the same.
The husband had approached the High Court seeking transfer of the domestic violence case from the Magistrate Court to the Family Court in Bandra, but the court noted that three other cases filed by the wife were still pending before the magistrate:
One under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (cruelty by husband), for which a chargesheet has already been filed.
Another related to perjury (false testimony).
Refusing to grant any relief to the husband, the High Court cited multiple Supreme Court judgments, which emphasise that when transferring matrimonial or domestic violence cases, the convenience of the wife must take precedence, given the socio-economic realities of Indian society.
Accordingly, the court made it clear that the wife’s convenience is the paramount consideration when deciding such transfer requests.
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