Case Note & Summary
The Miscellaneous Civil Application arose from matrimonial discord between the applicant wife and respondent husband and his relatives. The applicant, a government employee with the Regional Transport Office at Kolhapur, sought transfer of two sets of proceedings to the Family Court at Kolhapur: a divorce petition filed by the husband before the Civil Judge Senior Division Pune, and proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (D.V. Act) filed by the husband's sister-in-law and mother-in-law before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Shirur, Pune. By an order dated 4 April 2025, a coordinate Bench of the Bombay High Court transferred the divorce proceedings to the Family Court at Kolhapur with the consent of both parties. Consequently, the remaining contested prayer concerned transfer of the D.V. proceedings. The applicant wife contended that she had to care for her one-and-a-half-year-old son, worked twelve-hour shifts at the RTO Kolhapur, and that the distance between Shirur and Kolhapur was approximately 300 kilometres, making travel about 600 kilometres per hearing. She also pointed out that she had filed a restitution of conjugal rights petition under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and a D.V. proceeding in Kolhapur. The respondents opposed transfer, arguing that the mother-in-law and sister-in-law would face hardship, the sister-in-law was undergoing fertility treatment in Pune, and that because the husband was not a party to the D.V. proceedings, the Family Court could not adjudicate them as its jurisdiction was confined to disputes between husband and wife. The core legal issue before the High Court was whether D.V. proceedings could be transferred from a Magistrate's court to the Family Court. The court examined Sections 12 and 26 of the D.V. Act. Section 12 empowers a Magistrate to entertain applications seeking reliefs under the Act, while Section 26 permits an aggrieved person to seek the same reliefs under Sections 18 to 22 in any legal proceeding before a civil court, family court or criminal court. Relying on the Full Bench decision in Nandkishor Pralhad Vyawahare v. Mangala w/o. Pratap Bansar, the court noted that the reliefs under the D.V. Act are basically of civil nature, and that Parliament had conferred authority on civil courts and Family Courts under Section 26 in addition to criminal courts. The Full Bench had held that the character of the proceeding is determined by the nature of the right violated and the relief sought, not by the nature of the tribunal. The court also referred to Rohan Shah v. Nishigandha Shah, where a Single Judge held that there is no bar on a Family Court trying D.V. proceedings. Accordingly, the court rejected the respondents' jurisdictional objection and proceeded to consider the transfer application on the merits of convenience. The available text of the judgment ends at that point; the final operative order on whether to transfer the D.V. proceedings to the Family Court at Kolhapur is not included in the supplied excerpt.
Headnote
A) Domestic Violence - Transfer of Proceedings - Civil Nature and Family Court Jurisdiction - Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Sections 12 and 26 - The applicant wife sought transfer of D.V. proceedings from JMFC Shirur to Family Court Kolhapur; respondents contended Family Court lacked jurisdiction as husband was not a party. The court examined Sections 12 and 26 and followed the Full Bench in Nandkishor Pralhad Vyawahare v. Mangala w/o. Pratap Bansar, which held that D.V. Act reliefs are civil in nature and Family Court can grant reliefs under Sections 18-22 in legal proceedings. Held that there is no bar on Family Court to try D.V. proceedings; the jurisdictional objection was rejected. (Paras 6-10)
Issue of Consideration
Whether Domestic Violence proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 can be transferred from Magistrate's Court to Family Court.
Law Points
- D.V. Act proceedings are civil in nature
- Family Court can grant reliefs under Sections 18-22 of D.V. Act
- Section 26 D.V. Act provides alternate forum
- transfer application may be considered based on convenience of parties
