Date of reserved for orders : Date of pronouncement :21.07.2026 Date of uploading : APHC010249282026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3520] TUESDAY, THE 21st DAY OF JULY 2026 PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A. HARI HARANADHA SARMA TRANS. CIVIL MISC.PETITION NO: 159/2026 Between: 1. MARDALA SUSHMA ALIAS E.SUSHMA, W/O.MUKUNDA , D/O. E.POLAIAH AGED ABOUT 28YEARS, R/O SOUTHRAJUPALEM NELLORE RURAL MANDAL S.P.S.R.NELLORE DISTRICT PIN CODE 524126 ...PETITIONER AND 1. M MUKUNDA, S/o Elumalai Aged about 36 years,Occ Cultivation R/o Vanellur Village, SatyaveduMandal, Tirupathi District, Pin code 517588 ...RESPONDENT Counsel for the Petitioner: 1. DR G V RAVI Counsel for the Respondent: 1. The Court made the following: THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A. HARI HARANADHA SARMA TRANSFER CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS PETITION NO.159 of 2026 ORDER: The petitioner/wife herein filed the present petition under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (for short, „the C.P.C.‟), seeking to withdraw H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026 on the file of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District to any competent Court in Nellore, S.P.S.R. Nellore District, for trial and disposal. 2. The case of the petitioner in brief is as follows: i. The petitioner is the legally wedded wife of the respondent/husband, and their marriage was solemnized on 22.08.2016 as per Hindu Marriage customs and rituals. Thereafter, due to matrimonial disputes between the parties, the petitioner/wife has been residing separately at South Rajupalem, S.P.S.R. Nellore District at her parents‟ house. ii. The petitioner submitted that she had lodged a complaint vide Crime No.74 of 2019 before the Nellore Mahila Police Station, for the offences punishable under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 19651. iii. The petitioner further pleaded that the respondent/husband, to cause inconvenience to the petitioner, filed H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026, on the file of learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti and the same is pending adjudication. The petitioner further pleaded that the distance between Nellore and Srikalahasti is more than 100 kms and it is very difficult for the petitioner/wife to appear before the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti on each and every adjournment without any male assistance, and that she is constrained to file this petition. 3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. As per the endorsement of the Registry, notice sent to the respondent has been duly served. Despite service of notice and sufficient opportunity, none appeared on behalf of the respondent. 4. Perused the material available on record. 5. The material on record prima facie shows that, in view of the matrimonial disputes between the parties, the petitioner/wife has been residing separately at South Rajupalem, S.P.S.R. Nellore District at her parents‟ house. The material on record further discloses that respondent/husband, filed H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026, on the file of learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, seeking dissolution of marriage under Section 13 1(a) 1(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The material on record further discloses that the petitioner has lodged a complaint vide Crime No.74 of 2019 before the Nellore Mahila Police Station, for the offences punishable under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 19651, and the same is pending adjudication. 6. The grounds urged by the petitioner for seeking transfer of H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026 on the file of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District to any competent Court in Nellore, S.P.S.R. Nellore District, are that she is a single woman with no independent source of income and lacks financial and physical support. It is contended that it is very difficult for her to travel a distance of approximately 100 kilometres from Nellore to Srikalahasti, on each and every date of hearing to attend the proceedings before the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District and that she was constrained to file the present petition against the respondent/husband seeking to transfer of the case. 7. The Apex Court in a case of GEETA HEERA Vs HARISH CHANDER HEERA1, held by considering the fact that “if a wife does not have sufficient funds to visit the place where the divorce petition is filed by her husband, then the transfer petition filed by the wife may be allowed.” 8. The Apex Court in a case of N.C.V. Aishwarya Vs A.S.Saravana Karthik Sha2 held as follows: “9. The cardinal principle for exercise of power under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure is that the ends of justice should demand the transfer of the suit, appeal or other proceeding. In matrimonial matters, wherever Courts are called upon to consider the plea of 1(2000) 10 SCC 304 2 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 627 transfer, the Courts have to take into consideration the economic soundness of both the parties, the social strata of the spouses and their behavioural pattern, their standard of life prior to the marriage and subsequent thereto and the circumstances of both the parties in eking out their livelihood and under whose protective umbrella they are seeking their sustenance to life. Given the prevailing socio-economic paradigm in the Indian society, generally, it is the wife’s convenience which must be looked at while considering transfer.” 9. On considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and in view of the ratio laid down in the aforesaid case laws that, in matrimonial proceedings, the convenience of the wife has to be taken into consideration rather than the inconvenience of the husband and therefore, I am of the considered view that there are justifiable grounds to consider the request made by the petitioner/wife seeking transfer of H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026 on the file of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District to the file of Family Court at Nellore. 10. In the result, the present Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petition is allowed, and H.M.O.P. No.12 of 2026 on the file of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District, is hereby withdrawn and transferred to the file of the Family Court at Nellore. However, the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District, shall complete the pleadings and the conciliation process before transmitting the case record to the Family Court at Nellore. 11. In the result, the present petition is allowed as follows: i. The respondent in H.M.O.P.No.12 of 2026 is directed to file the counter before the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District. ii. The learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Srikalahasti, Chittoor District, is requested to complete the proceedings up to the stage of completion of pleadings and the conciliation process and thereafter transmit the case record, duly indexed, to the Family Court at Nellore. iii. The learned Family Court at Nellore shall, upon receipt of the case record, proceed with H.M.O.P. No.12 of 2026 and dispose of the same after affording reasonable opportunity of hearing to both parties and deciding the case on its own merits, in accordance with law. There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending and the Interim order granted earlier, if any, shall stand closed. _____________________________________ JUSTICE A. HARI HARANADHA SARMA, J Date: 21.07.2026 JLSR Whether the order is : Speaking: Yes Reasoned : Yes Reportable: No Non-Reportable: Yes 135 THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A. HARI HARANADHA SARMA TRANS. CIVIL MISC.PETITION NO: 159 of 2026 Dated:21.07.2026. JLSR