Calcutta HC orders Mohammed Shami to pay Rs 4 lakh monthly alimony to wife and daughter

Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed Indian pacer Mohammed Shami to pay his estranged wife, Hasin Jahan, and daughter a monthly alimony of Rs 4 lakh as maintenance during the ongoing legal battle with his spouse.

Jahan had moved the high court against a district sessions court's order directing the cricketer to pay Rs 50,000 to his wife and Rs 80,000 to her daughter in 2023.

"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 passed by Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee stated.

"However as regards petitioner's child the husband /opposite party No.2 will always be at liberty to voluntarily assist her with educational and/or other reasonable expenses, over and above the aforesaid amount," the order added.

Jahan had lodged an FIR at the Jadavpur police station against Shami and his family in March 2018, four years after their marriage in April 2014, alleging "enormous physical and mental torture" under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violation (PWDV) Act, 2005 and "sustained indifference and neglect" of her minor daughter.

Besides domestic violence, she also accused Shami of dowry harassment and match fixing while alleging that Shami had stopped shouldering financial responsibility for running her family expenses.

She had prayed for monetary relief, including an interim monetary relief of Rs 7 lakh per month for herself and an additional Rs 3 lakh for her daughter.

The magistrate, while disposing of her application, had initially rejected her prayer for monetary relief and directed the pacer a monthly payment of Rs 80,000 towards his minor daughter.

On appeal, the order was later modified, directing Shami to a monthly payment of Rs 50,000 to his wife and Rs 80,000 to his daughter.

"In view of materials placed before me and considering the elements for the determination of the quantum of maintenance as held in the salutary judgments, I am of the view that the quantum of interim monetary relief as fixed by the Court below requires revision," the high court order stated.

"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," it went on to add.