Arti Kashyap v. Shiva, which was decided by this Court vide i

Petitioner :- Smt. Arti Kashyap Respondent :- Shiva @ Shiv Nandan Kashyap Counsel for Petitioner :- Anurag Maurya,Prashant Agarwal,Rupesh Kumar Kasaudhan Hon'ble Jaspreet Singh,J.

1. Heard Shri Prashant Agarwal, learned counsel for the petitioner.

2. By means of the instant petition, the petitioner prays for the following relief:- "Wherefore, it is most respectfully prayed that in the interest of justice and the above circumstances, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to set aside the impugned order dated 14.07.2025 as contained in annexure no.6 and further be pleased to allow the application dated 02.07.2025 of the petitioner thereby directing the learned Court of Additional Principal Judge 4, Family Court, Lucknow to start the proceedings a fresh from the stage of order dated 04.04.2024 and subsequent proceedings be quashed/declared as null and void being vitiated on account of without jurisdiction in the Matrimonial Old CASE (R.S.) No.1416/2012 and New Case No.214/2017; Shiva Versus Arti Kashyap (Under Section 13 of the H.M. Act) to secure the ends of justice please".

3. In order to appreciate the controversy involved in the instant petition, it will be necessary to take a note of the prelude.

4. The record indicates that matrimonial proceedings under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act was initiated by the respondent against the petitioner which was bearing Old R.S. No.1416/2012 which was allotted new Case No.214/2017 before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow.

5. During pendency of the proceedings, an administrative order dated 20.04.2024 was issued indicating that all files from S.No.85 to 100 (as mentioned in the said administrative order) would be transferred to the Court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow from the Court of Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow.

6. The case of the petitioner also fell within the said list of cases, hence, it was transferred to the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow. Subsequently, almost four days thereafter on 26.04.2024, another administrative order was passed staying the operation of the earlier administrative order dated 20.04.2024, as a consequence, all the files which had been transferred were reverted back to the Court from where they were called for. However, it is the case of the petitioner that her file was retained by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow while all other files had been sent back.

7. This was assailed by the petitioner by moving an application before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow, however, it did not find any favour. Subsequently, the petitioner preferred a transfer application bearing No.223 of 2024 - Arti Kashyap v. Shiva, which was decided by this Court vide its order dated 16.05.2025 and the relevant portion thereof reads as under:- "Be that as it may, this Court at this stage may not delve into the issues regarding the actions of the Principal Judge, Family Court. Since the applicant has moved an application for transfer and there are eight Courts of Additional Judges, Family Court, Lucknow, hence, this Court in the ends of justice and to ally any dispute between the parties is of the opinion that ends of justice would be met by directing the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow, to transfer R.S. No. 1416 of 2012 (New Case No. 214 of 2017), Shiva v. Arti Kashyap, to the Court of Addl. Principal Judge, Family Court- IV, at Lucknow forthwith. It is also provided that the transferee Court shall, after affording full opportunity of hearing, but without granting any unnecessary adjournment, shall proceed with the matter on weekly basis, to ensure that the matter is taken to its logical conclusion, within 4 months. The parties shall appear before the Addl. Principal Judge, Family Court- IV, Lucknow on 19.05.2025. With the aforesaid observations, this application is allowed. Costs are made easy.".

8. After the said application for transfer was allowed and the parties were directed to proceed and appear before the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow on 19.05.2025, the petitioner thereafter moved an application on 02.07.2025, a copy of which has been brought on record as Annexure No.6, with the prayer that an order be passed by the Court to start the proceedings afresh from the stage of the order dated 04.04.2024 as the subsequent proceedings being without jurisdiction is void and deserves to be set aside in the interest of justice.

9. This application has been rejected by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow by means of the order dated 14.07.2025 which is under challenge in the instant petition.

10. The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that once the proceedings were held to be without jurisdiction and this Court in the transfer application had transferred the matter to the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow, hence, with the effect the date when the administrative order dated 20.04.2024 was passed and till the order of the High Court dated 16.05.2025, all the proceedings held in the interregnum be declared as null and void, hence, this aspect has not been considered by the trial Court. Accordingly, the petitioner has approached this Court by means of the instant petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

11. The Court has heard learned counsel for the petitioner and also perused the material on record.

12. At the outset, it may be noticed that the issue of jurisdiction as sought to be urged by the learned counsel for the petitioner is not as if that the Court itself did not have the jurisdiction to entertain or proceed with the matter. There is a difference in subject matter jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the Court inheritedly to deal with the controversy in the first place.

Petitioner :- Smt. Arti Kashyap Respondent :- Shiva @ Shiv Nandan Kashyap Counsel for Petitioner :- Anurag Maurya,Prashant Agarwal,Rupesh Kumar Kasaudhan Hon'ble Jaspreet Singh,J.

1. Heard Shri Prashant Agarwal, learned counsel for the petitioner.

2. By means of the instant petition, the petitioner prays for the following relief:- "Wherefore, it is most respectfully prayed that in the interest of justice and the above circumstances, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to set aside the impugned order dated 14.07.2025 as contained in annexure no.6 and further be pleased to allow the application dated 02.07.2025 of the petitioner thereby directing the learned Court of Additional Principal Judge 4, Family Court, Lucknow to start the proceedings a fresh from the stage of order dated 04.04.2024 and subsequent proceedings be quashed/declared as null and void being vitiated on account of without jurisdiction in the Matrimonial Old CASE (R.S.) No.1416/2012 and New Case No.214/2017; Shiva Versus Arti Kashyap (Under Section 13 of the H.M. Act) to secure the ends of justice please".

3. In order to appreciate the controversy involved in the instant petition, it will be necessary to take a note of the prelude.

4. The record indicates that matrimonial proceedings under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act was initiated by the respondent against the petitioner which was bearing Old R.S. No.1416/2012 which was allotted new Case No.214/2017 before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow.

5. During pendency of the proceedings, an administrative order dated 20.04.2024 was issued indicating that all files from S.No.85 to 100 (as mentioned in the said administrative order) would be transferred to the Court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow from the Court of Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow.

6. The case of the petitioner also fell within the said list of cases, hence, it was transferred to the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow. Subsequently, almost four days thereafter on 26.04.2024, another administrative order was passed staying the operation of the earlier administrative order dated 20.04.2024, as a consequence, all the files which had been transferred were reverted back to the Court from where they were called for. However, it is the case of the petitioner that her file was retained by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow while all other files had been sent back.

7. This was assailed by the petitioner by moving an application before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow, however, it did not find any favour. Subsequently, the petitioner preferred a transfer application bearing No.223 of 2024 - Arti Kashyap v. Shiva, which was decided by this Court vide its order dated 16.05.2025 and the relevant portion thereof reads as under:- "Be that as it may, this Court at this stage may not delve into the issues regarding the actions of the Principal Judge, Family Court. Since the applicant has moved an application for transfer and there are eight Courts of Additional Judges, Family Court, Lucknow, hence, this Court in the ends of justice and to ally any dispute between the parties is of the opinion that ends of justice would be met by directing the Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow, to transfer R.S. No. 1416 of 2012 (New Case No. 214 of 2017), Shiva v. Arti Kashyap, to the Court of Addl. Principal Judge, Family Court- IV, at Lucknow forthwith. It is also provided that the transferee Court shall, after affording full opportunity of hearing, but without granting any unnecessary adjournment, shall proceed with the matter on weekly basis, to ensure that the matter is taken to its logical conclusion, within 4 months. The parties shall appear before the Addl. Principal Judge, Family Court- IV, Lucknow on 19.05.2025. With the aforesaid observations, this application is allowed. Costs are made easy.".

8. After the said application for transfer was allowed and the parties were directed to proceed and appear before the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow on 19.05.2025, the petitioner thereafter moved an application on 02.07.2025, a copy of which has been brought on record as Annexure No.6, with the prayer that an order be passed by the Court to start the proceedings afresh from the stage of the order dated 04.04.2024 as the subsequent proceedings being without jurisdiction is void and deserves to be set aside in the interest of justice.

9. This application has been rejected by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow by means of the order dated 14.07.2025 which is under challenge in the instant petition.

10. The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that once the proceedings were held to be without jurisdiction and this Court in the transfer application had transferred the matter to the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court-IV, Lucknow, hence, with the effect the date when the administrative order dated 20.04.2024 was passed and till the order of the High Court dated 16.05.2025, all the proceedings held in the interregnum be declared as null and void, hence, this aspect has not been considered by the trial Court. Accordingly, the petitioner has approached this Court by means of the instant petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

11. The Court has heard learned counsel for the petitioner and also perused the material on record.

12. At the outset, it may be noticed that the issue of jurisdiction as sought to be urged by the learned counsel for the petitioner is not as if that the Court itself did not have the jurisdiction to entertain or proceed with the matter. There is a difference in subject matter jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the Court inheritedly to deal with the controversy in the first place.