SC Issues Notice To Mohammed Shami Over Wife’s Plea For Increased Maintenance

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to cricketer Mohammed Shami after his estranged wife filed a plea seeking an increase in the interim maintenance for herself and their minor daughter.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan asked Shami to respond to the petition, which challenges two Calcutta High Court orders passed on July 1 and August 25.

The high court had raised the interim maintenance to Rs 1.5 lakh per month for Shami’s wife and Rs 2.5 lakh per month for their daughter, while allowing the cricketer to clear arrears in eight instalments.

Shami’s wife contended that the amounts are “grossly inadequate,” given his financial standing and “lavish lifestyle,” and demanded Rs 7 lakh per month for herself and Rs 3 lakh for their daughter.

The plea highlights Shami’s annual income of nearly Rs 48 crore for 2021-22, while she has been living in “downtrodden conditions,” struggling to meet basic expenses. It also notes his ownership of luxury vehicles, including a Range Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Toyota Fortuner. The couple married in April 2014.

In 2018, Shami’s wife had filed an FIR at Kolkata’s Jadavpur police station alleging domestic violence, which later led to a chargesheet against him. She subsequently sought interim maintenance under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

A trial court initially granted Rs 80,000 per month for the child but denied maintenance to the wife. On appeal, the Sessions Court in 2023 awarded her Rs 50,000 and the child Rs 80,000.

The Calcutta High Court’s July 1 order later raised the payments to Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh, with the August 25 order allowing Shami to pay arrears in instalments.

Senior advocate Shobha Gupta represented Shami’s wife in the Supreme Court.

With PTI Inputs