Calcutta HC directs Shami to pay ₹4 lakh monthly alimony to wife, child

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has directed Indian pacer Mohammed Shami to pay Rs 4 lakh per month in alimony to his estranged wife, Hasin Jahan, and their daughter amid ongoing legal proceedings.

The directive was issued by a bench led by Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, who was hearing an appeal filed by Jahan challenging a previous ruling by the Alipore Sessions Judge. That earlier decision required Shami to pay Rs 50,000 per month to Jahan and Rs 80,000 to their daughter as interim relief.

The appeal filed by Hasin Jahan contended that Alipore’s Sessions judge “mechanically” granted “inadequate and insufficient” interim relief when she has a meagre monthly income of Rs 16 thousand, but her monthly expenditure goes around Rs 6 lakh.

It added that due to Hasin Jahan’s financial inabilities, she was not able to admit her daughter to a reputed school similar to the school where the children of other Indian cricketers study.

Hasin Jahan’s counsel urged the Calcutta High Court to consider the grant of interim monetary relief in view of Mohammed Shami’s financial capacity, his actual income, standard of living and the spiralling inflation rates.

"In my considered opinion, a sum of Rs 1,50,000 per month to the petitioner no. 1 (wife) and Rs 2,50,000 to her daughter would be just fair and reasonable to ensure financial stability for both the petitioners till disposal of the main application," the order stated.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami’s legal counsel argued that Hasin Jahan had acquired properties through earnings from her modelling, acting, and business ventures, and that her claim of financial distress was misleading.

After reviewing the arguments, the bench led by Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee observed:

“[T]he quantum of interim monetary relief as fixed by the court below requires revision. The opposite party/husband’s income, financial disclosure and earnings established that he is in a position to pay a higher amount. The petitioner's wife, who has remained unmarried and is living independently with the child, is entitled to a levelled maintenance that she enjoyed during her continuance of marriage and which reasonably secures her future as well as the future of the child.”

In her plea, Hasin Jahan sought monthly interim relief of Rs 7 lakh for herself and Rs 3 lakh for her minor daughter from Mohammed Shami.

According to her original application under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, both Hasin Jahan and her daughter were allegedly subjected to extensive physical and mental abuse by Shami and his family members.

Following her complaint, an FIR was filed against the cricketer and his family under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 498A, 328, 307, 376, 325, read with 34.

The couple had married in 2014 under Islamic rites and welcomed a daughter the following year. This was Hasin Jahan’s second marriage, and she has two daughters from her previous marriage.

(with agency inputs)