In a transfer petition filed before the Supreme Court under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), seeking the transfer of divorce petition under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) filed by the respondent (husband) before the Civil Judge (Sr. Division) at Kalyan, Thane, Maharashtra, to the Court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Varanasi, U.P., a Full Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice J.K. Maheshwari, Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Joymala Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi took note of a settlement agreement between the parties and dismissed the petition for being infructuous.
The petitioner (wife), a homemaker being completely dependent on her husband, a Manager at the State Bank of India, Mumbai, for her maintenance and welfare, was residing at her maternal home in Varanasi. The couple got married in 2021 as per the Hindu rites in Varanasi. The wife’s parents were forced to give more dowry to the husband and his family than what they could afford and on the day of marriage, the husband’s family members argued with the wife’s parents regarding the dowry amount demanded.
It was asserted that the husband’s family harassed the wife physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically from the very inception of the marriage for dowry. The husband and his family often beat up the petitioner and also strangled her on one instance. Thereafter, the husband filed a divorce petition in Maharashtra in 2024. Due to financial constraints, the wife could not travel to and from on the dates of hearing.
By an order dated 19-04-2025, the divorce petition was erroneously ordered to be proceeded ex parte against the wife, which led her to file a case before the Family Court, Varanasi, under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 against the husband for maintenance. By an order dated 04-06-2025, the husband was directed to pay Rs. 20,000/- every month to the wife as interim maintenance. The husband approached the Allahabad High Court against the said order and did not pay any amount to the wife. Hence, the wife filed the present petition seeking transfer of the divorce proceedings to Varanasi.
The husband, in his counter affidavit, asserted that solely because the wife did not wish to appear through video conferencing, she could not casually ask for the matter to be transferred. He argued that the Allahabad High Court had passed an order setting aside the order by the Family Court, Varanasi, and remitted the matter back to the court for considering the husband’s submissions. However, the respondent stated that the Family Court, without considering his submissions, passed an order dated 17-09-2025 whereby the interim maintenance was fixed at Rs. 30,000/-.
By an order dated 01-09-2025, the Court had issued notice and stayed the proceedings pending before the Civil Judge, Thane, Maharashtra.
In the present proceedings, the Court was informed of a settlement agreement dated 28-11-2025, which was placed on record jointly by an interim application. The said application mentioned that the parties had amicably resolved their disputes and as per the agreement, the husband had paid a sum of Rs. 10,00,000/- to the wife. Further, it was also mentioned that the parties had applied before the Family Court at Varanasi for dissolution of their marriage by mutual consent, and that the case was fixed for hearing on 21-07-2026.
Thus, the Court held that the present petition had become infructuous and dismissed the same, granting liberty to the parties to pursue the divorce petition filed in Varanasi. Lastly, the Court clarified that the parties were to abide by the terms and conditions of the agreement.
