Calcutta High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of Sahidullah Munshi, J. allowed an application under Section 24 CPC for transfer of a child custody case arising out of Section 7, 8 and 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.
The application was filed by the mother of the child for transfer of the case from the Court of District Judge, Alipore to the Court of District Judge, Paschim Medinipur. The petitioner was married to the respondent. In 2016, she filed a complaint against the petitioner under Section 498-A IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. The respondent filed an application for custody of the child born from the wedlock under Sections 7, 8, and 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act. Subsequently, the petitioner filed the present petition.
The High Court perused Section 9 of the Act of 1890 and observed that territorial jurisdiction of the court in matters of guardianship applications lie where the child ordinarily resides. In the present case, based on the facts, it was clear that the child ordinarily resided with the mother at Paschim Medinipur. The Court was of the view that the child could not be expected to travel 100 km to Alipore on every date of hearing. In such circumstances and in view of Section 9, the Court held that it would be appropriate to transfer the proceedings from the Court of District Judge, Alipore to the Court of District Judge, Paschim Medinipur. Orders were made accordingly. The petition was, thus, allowed. [Ruhi Sahina v. Syed Masidur Rahman, 2018 SCC OnLine Cal 5758, dated 28-08-2018]
