Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure is an enabling provision which empowers the Supreme Court of India to transfer any case, appeal or other proceedings from a High Court or any other Civil Court in one state to another High Court or other Civil Court in any other state.
According to the Code, this power may be exercised by the Supreme Court if it is satisfied that an order under section 25 is expedient for the ends of justice. Hence wide powers have been conferred on the Supreme Court to order a transfer of a civil case if the Court feels that the ends of justice shall be met in the particular circumstances.
In majority of cases, this provision is invoked in matrimonial matters and usually at the instance of the wife when she is arrayed as a respondent in the litigation initiated by the husband and in cases where the parties have separated for marital differences and have been living in different states. In these kind of cases, the wife moves for transfer of the proceedings on the ground of her inability to defend the proceedings for being not in a position to afford travelling, being not in a position to not leave her child / children behind and on the grounds her personal safety and inconvenience besides expenses. The Court invariably takes a sympathetic view in favour of the wife however, that is always not the case as in some cases the Supreme Court has held that the convenience of the petitioner cannot eclipse the requirement of justice.
The invocation of the jurisdiction for transfer of cases is however not restricted or limited to matrimonial disputes and is possible for other cases also.
Similarly section 406 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the Supreme Court of India to transfer criminal cases and appeal pending in one High Court to another High Court or from a Criminal Court subordinate to one High Court to another Criminal Court of equal or superior jurisdiction subordinate to another High Court.
In both type of cases an application with affidavit of the petitioner alongwith copy of the case sought to be transferred is required to be filed before the Supreme Court of India with a prayer for the transfer of the case to a particular Court in another State and a prayer for stay of the proceedings before the Court below in the case sought to be transferred.
It would normally take the Supreme Court of India to decide any Transfer Petition within a period of approximately 4 to 6 months’ time after hearing both sides on merits until which time the proceedings before the Court below remain stayed by an order of the Supreme Court.
Net Lawman team in India is well versed with the law and procedures to deal with Transfer Petitions before the Supreme Court of India in a professional manner and any inquiry with respect to filing or defending a Transfer Petition can be registered at Contact us.