Pratibha Kanojia and 5 Others Vs Sushma Lata — Domestic Violence | Allahabad HC (2025)

Pratibha Kanojia and 5 Others Vs Sushma Lata — Domestic Violence | Allahabad HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

Issue for consideration

Whether the complaint case Criminal Misc. Case No. 4733/2024 filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, pending at Lucknow, should be transferred to a competent court in District Kanpur Nagar on the ground that the applicants reside at Kanpur and would face difficulty in travelling to Lucknow on all dates. +1 more

Court's answer

In balancing equities, the fact that the complainant is a woman aged 62 years residing at Lucknow cannot be ignored; applicant No. 1, a young lady aged 24 years, can travel to Lucknow to defend the complaint more easily than the difficulty that would be faced by the 62-year-old complainant.

Ratio / Principle

Under Section 27 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the Court at Lucknow, where the complainant resides, has territorial jurisdiction to entertain the complaint case.

Key takeaways

For defending a complaint case under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, personal appearance of all the opposite parties on all dates is not necessary; the applicants can defend the complaint case by engaging a competent counsel of their choice.ratio¶11

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Transfer Application (Criminal) No. 54 of 2025 under Section 447 of BNSS by Pratibha Kanojia and 5 others (applicant No. 1 being the 24-year-old daughter-in-law residing at Kanpur) seeking transfer of complaint case Criminal Misc. Case No. 4733/2024 (Sushma Lata Vs. Pratibha Kanojia And Ohers), filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 by the 62-year-old mother-in-law complainant, from the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-VII, Court No. 31, Lucknow to a competent court in District Kanpur Nagar, on the plea of difficulty in travelling — HELD: (i) under Section 27 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the Court at Lucknow where the complainant resides has territorial jurisdiction; (ii) equities favour the elderly complainant, whom the young applicant can out-travel; (iii) personal appearance of all opposite parties on all dates is not necessary in a Section 12 complaint and the applicants can defend through competent counsel — no good ground for transfer; transfer application dismissed. Order dated 18.7.2025 by Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi, J.

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:41669

Court No. - 15

Case :- TRANSFER APPLICATION (CRIMINAL) No. - 54 of 2025

Applicant :- Pratibha Kanojia And 5 Others Opposite Party :- Sushma Lata Counsel for Applicant :- Abhishek Shukla

Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J.

Heard Ms. Pooja Maurya, advocate, holding brief of Mr. Abhishek Shukla, learned counsel for the applicants and Mr. Asif Khan, learned State Counsel.

The present application has been filed under Section 447 of BNSS seeking transfer of the complaint case i.e. Criminal Misc. Case No. 4733/2024 (Sushma Lata Vs. Pratibha Kanojia And Ohers) filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 from the Court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-VII, Court No. 31, Lucknow to any other competent court in District Kanpur Nagar.

The aforesaid complaint has been filed by the opposite party who is mother-in-law of the applicant No. 1. In the complaint, it is stated that the complainant is an old woman aged 62 years who is residing in Lucknow.

The applicant has sought transfer of the aforesaid case on the ground that the applicant No. 1 is the daughter-in-law of the opposite party and she is residing at Kanpur. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that the applicants would face difficulty in travelling to Lucknow on all the dates for defending the complaint case.

When the Court has to balance equities, it cannot ignore the fact that the complainant is also a woman aged 62 years and she is residing at Lucknow, therefore, as per the provisions of Section 27 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 the Court in Lucknow where the complainant resides has territorial jurisdiction to entertain the complaint case. The applicant No. 1, who is the daughter-in-law of the complainant, is a young lady aged 24 years and she can travel of Lucknow to defend the complaint easily compared to the difficulty that would be faced by the complainant, who is a lady aged 62 years.

Moreover, for defending a complaint case under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, personal appearance of all the opposite parties on all dates is not necessary and the applicants can very well defend the complaint case by engaging a competent counsel of their choice.

There is not good ground for transferring the Criminal Misc. Case No. 4733/2024 (Sushma Lata Vs. Pratibha Kanojia And Ohers) filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 from the court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-VII, Court No. 31, Lucknow to any other competent court in District Kanpur Nagar, accordingly, the present transfer application is dismissed.

Order Date :- 18.7.2025 (Manoj K.)

Digitally signed by :- MANOJ KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench