SC issues notice to Mohammed Shami

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami on petitions filed by his estranged wife Hasin Jahan seeking transfer of matrimonial proceedings, including her maintenance plea and domestic violence complaint, from West Bengal to Delhi.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Manmohan passed the order while hearing the petitions moved by Hasin Jahan, who has sought transfer of proceedings pending in Kolkata under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, as well as her petition under Section 125 of the CrPC seeking maintenance. In her plea, she stated that she has shifted to Delhi to ensure the "holistic growth and development" of her minor daughter, who is studying in a school in the national capital.

Submitting that she has no independent source of income and is solely responsible for the day-to-day care, upbringing and welfare of the child, her plea said: "Thus, under such circumstances, compelling the petitioner to contest the cases in West Bengal, which is 1,500 km away from Delhi, shall cause grave prejudice and hardships to the petitioner and minor daughter."

The petition further contended that Shami travels across countries for cricket matches and leagues and has sufficient financial resources and means to contest the cases in Delhi. It added that his family resides in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, which is geographically closer to Delhi than Kolkata.

Hasin Jahan married Shami with Islamic rituals and customs in 2014, and a year later, the couple was blessed with a female child. This was the second marriage of Hasin Jahan, and from her previous marriage, she had two daughters.

As per her original application under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Hasin Jahan and her minor daughter were allegedly subjected to enormous physical as well as mental torture by Shami and his family members.

Following Hasin Jahan’s complaint, an FIR was also lodged against the cricketer and his family members under Sections 498A, 328, 307, 376, 325, read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In July 2015, the Calcutta High Court had directed Mohammed Shami to pay Rs 1.5 lakh per month as interim maintenance to Hasin Jahan and Rs 2.5 lakh per month towards the care and expenses of their minor daughter, observing that the husband’s income and financial disclosures established his capacity to pay a higher amount and that the wife is entitled to a level of maintenance commensurate with the standard of living enjoyed during the subsistence of the marriage.