3. Shortly put, the issue is: Is the Supreme Court the sole repository of power in terms of section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure (for brevity ‘the CPC’) to direct transfer of a suit, appeal or other proceeding from a Civil Court in one State to a Civil Court in another State? Or, is it open for a High Court, if it is the common High Court for two or more States, to entertain 3 an application for transfer under section 24 of the CPC and transfer a suit, appeal or other proceeding from a Civil Court to another Civil Court, both of which are subordinate to such High Court but situate in different States in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction, for consideration and decision?

46. Finally, in our opinion, an approach to construe section 25 of the CPC has to be fair, pragmatic, reasonable and realistic. Any construction of section 25 which would impede “access to justice”, considered to be a Fundamental Right, has to be eschewed. A narrow interpretation of section 25 imposing a bar for entertainment of an application under section 24 for transfer of a suit, appeal or other proceeding by a common High Court like the Gauhati High Court inter-se the four States in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction could place a heavy burden and might pose an insurmountable obstacle for litigants of the far-flung areas of the North-East, if they were made to approach this Court for such transfer on the specious ground that the Civil Court to which the same is proposed to be transferred is in a State other than the State in which the suit has been instituted. An interpretation of the law that seeks to address the mischief, that is consistent with the Constitution and promotes constitutional objectives and that which responds to the needs of the nation must be adopted. If “access to justice” has to be real, it becomes the moral responsibility of the Supreme Court, the supreme guardians/protectors of the rights of people guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws, not to construe the substantive part in section 25 of the Code in a pedantic manner to bring about a situation that would thwart the initiative of making “access to justice” real.

48. In view of the aforesaid discussions, the issue is answered by concluding that:

i. a true and proper interpretation of section 25 of the CPC leads us to the conclusion that the same applies to inter-State transfer of a suit, appeal or other proceeding where both States have a High Court in terms of Article 214 of the Constitution and not to a transfer where both States have a common High Court under Article 231 thereof; and 

ii. the power under section 24 of the CPC can be exercised by the High Court even for inter-State transfer of a suit, appeal or other proceeding, if it is the common High Court for two or more States under Article 231 of the Constitution and both the Civil Courts (transferor and transferee) are subordinate to it.