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Judgment
C.Jayachandran, J
Service complete. No representation for the respondent. The petitioner/wife seeks transfer of O.P.(HMA) No.820/2022 on the files of Family Court, Ettumanoor to the Family Court, Alappuzha.
It is pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the respondent/husband has filed O.P.(HMA) No.619/2022 before Family Court, Alappuzha. The O.P. first above referred is preferred by the petitioner/wife seeking a decree of nullity of marriage and the second, by the respondent/husband seeking restitution of conjugal rights. It is also submitted that the O.P. preferred by the husband is scheduled for trial on 08.12.2023 before the Family Court, Alappuzha.
This Court is sure that both the matters are to be consolidated and tried together. Having regard to the nature of relief sought for in both, the consolidation is required so as to avoid conflicting judgments by two different courts in different matters. That apart, the Honourable Supreme Court in a catena of decisions, including the one in Sumita Singh v. Kumar Sanjay & another [(2001) 10 SCC 41], re-affirmed that the convenience of the wife is certainly a matter to be taken into account, while fixing the forum for adjudication of matrimonial disputes.
In the circumstances, O.P.(HMA) No.820/2022 pending before the Family Court, Ettumanoor is directed to be transferred to the Family Court, Alappuzha. The transferor court shall transmit the entire records to the transferee court, forthwith. In as much as, O.P.(HMA) No.820/2022 has been directed to be transferred, the trial in O.P.(HMA) No.619/2022 shall be deferred appropriately by the learned Family Court Judge.
Accordingly, this Transfer Petition is disposed of, as above.