A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit and Bela M Trivedi passed the order despite stiff opposition by the husband’s counsel claiming that the wife was simply playing the ‘woman card’.
“I quite see the forceful submission made by you. Unfortunately, the ethos which has developed in this court is convenience of the wife is paramount,” the CJI remarked.
While the CJI agreed that in today’s day and age women could not be said to require companions while travelling, he was not inclined to go against the established practice of giving preference to the convenience of women while deciding transfer petitions.
“We quite see that in today’s time you cannot say that female is the weaker sex and say that because they need protection they need a companion to travel. But at the same time this (giving preference to convenience of wife) has been the standard practice. Therefore, we will adopt that,” the bench underscored.
Source: Barandbench
