The Supreme Court on Thursday saw a discussion involving Kerala and language accessibility while hearing a family dispute, after a lawyer argued that contesting a case in the State would not be difficult because of widespread English use.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea by a woman seeking to transfer divorce and child custody proceedings from Kerala to Ludhiana in Punjab.

Appearing for the husband, advocate Aljo Joseph opposed the transfer request and argued that pursuing the case in Kerala would not create difficulties.

As reported by legal news portal Bar and Bench, Joseph told the court: "Everybody knows English in Kerala."

He also argued: "Everybody knows English in Kerala. Kerala is a language-friendly State."

The Bench, however, disagreed with the claim.

As reported by Bar and Bench, Justice Mehta responded: “It’s very difficult there. Don’t tell us. Even if they know English, they don’t want to speak.”

The court stressed that language accessibility cannot simply be assumed.

Court transfers proceedings to Ludhiana

The wife, who is currently living in the United Kingdom, had argued that she faced difficulties in effectively taking part in the proceedings. Her counsel also told the court that her mother, who was handling matters on her behalf in India, faced similar problems.

The court was informed that the couple married in 2017 and later moved to the UK before their relationship broke down. The husband later returned to India with their minor child and started custody and divorce proceedings in Kerala.

The Bench eventually agreed to transfer the pending proceedings to a court in Ludhiana.