Question

Under the scheme of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, where proceedings are pending before a competent civil court, and an application is made seeking transfer of the case from one district to another district within the state, such transfer may be ordered:

• A. Only after conclusion of trial.
• B. Only by the court in which the suit is pending.
• C. By the High Court.
• D. Only upon agreement between the parties.

Hint:

Remember: Transfer of cases is generally exercised by superior courts. Different districts within the same State usually point toward the High Court's transfer jurisdiction.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept: Sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 deal with transfer and withdrawal of suits. Where a case is sought to be transferred from one district court to another district court within the same State, the High Court possesses the power to order such transfer.

Step 1: Purpose of transfer provisions.
* Transfer powers ensure a fair trial, convenience of parties, and proper administration of justice. * The CPC empowers superior courts to shift proceedings whenever justice so requires.

Step 2: Authority competent to transfer.
* When courts are subordinate to the same High Court but situated in different districts, the High Court may transfer the matter. * Such transfer does not require completion of trial or consent of parties.

Step 3: Examination of options.
* Option (A) is incorrect because transfer may occur at any stage. * Option (B) is incorrect because the trial court cannot transfer the case to another district on its own authority. * Option (D) is incorrect because party consent is not mandatory.

Inter-district transfer within a State is ordinarily within the supervisory power of the High Court.

Answer 2

Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 gives the power of general transfer to the High Court or the District Court, but which of the two can act depends on whether both courts involved share the same immediate supervising authority. Testing each option against this hierarchy rule resolves the question.

1. Only after conclusion of trial: Section 24 places no such timing restriction on the power of transfer; an application can be made and decided at any stage of the proceeding, so tying the power to the end of trial is not supported by the Code.
2. Only by the court in which the suit is pending: The court where the suit is currently pending is itself a trial court, not a supervisory authority over a court in a different district, so it has no power to divest itself of the case and send it to a coordinate court elsewhere; this option confuses the trial court's own jurisdiction with a supervisory transfer power it does not possess.
3. By the High Court: Where the two courts, the one where the suit is pending and the one to which transfer is sought, are in different districts of the same State, only the High Court, which supervises all subordinate courts across every district in that State, has the authority to move the case between them. This matches the jurisdictional hierarchy Section 24 is built on.
4. Only upon agreement between the parties: Transfer under Section 24 is a discretionary judicial power exercised in the interest of justice, convenience, or fairness, not a power switched on only when both sides consent; the section nowhere makes party agreement a precondition.

Because a District Court's supervisory reach stops at its own district while the High Court's reach covers every district in the State, an inter-district transfer request falls to the High Court to decide.

Hence, the correct answer is By the High Court.