The End of an Era: Shikhar Dhawan and Ayesha Mukherjee Part Ways

Shikhar Dhawan is granted a divorce by the Delhi Court on the grounds of mental abuse by his wife, and his small son is granted visiting rights. The wife's deliberate decision to leave the matter uncontested demonstrates her desire for the court to issue a divorce decree even if it means holding her guilty of a matrimonial offence, as she knows that no harm will be done to her even if she is found to have treated the husband with cruelty because she has already obtained sufficient favourable orders from the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Australia...

Patiala House Courts: In a petition filed under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 by Shikhar Dhawan, a widely acclaimed Indian international cricket player seeking a divorce from his wife on grounds of mental cruelty, Harish Kumar, J. granted divorce from his wife, accepting the cricketer's plea on various allegations and granting visitation rights to meet his son but not delving into any opinion regarding the son's permanent custody. 

Background

The petitioner (husband) is an international athlete who has competed for the Indian Cricket Team for the past ten years and the Indian Premier League for the past fifteen years. He met respondent in 2011, while she was still married. The respondent (wife) was previously an amateur boxer and personal trainer. The woman depicted herself as someone who was in a dead marriage, living in agony, and responsible for two small girls. The wife claimed that she had experienced sexual abuse as a youngster. The husband began to feel empathy for the wife's suffering and eventually became emotionally attached to her. The parties decided to marry after the wife filed for divorce from her first spouse.

The marriage between the parties was solemnized according to Sikh rites on 30-10-2012 at Gurudwara, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, and one son was born out of wedlock on 26-12-2013 at Melbourne, Australia namely Zoraver Dhawan, a minor, an Australian citizen and a Hindu. The wife, an Australian citizen, Aesha Dhawan was previously married and have two daughters from her previous marriage, however, the marriage has been terminated and divorce granted on the ground that her marriage had broken down irretrievably....

Allegations Though the wife had assured him that due to his career requiring him to live in India, the matrimonial home would be in India, she later confessed that due to her supposed commitment to her previous husband not to reside outside Australia with her minor daughters, she would be residing there, without any proof of any such commitment, despite the husband's repeated requests, depriving the minor son of the love and affection of not only the husband but also of his paternal Shortly after the marriage, the wife threatened to produce and spread defamatory and false material against the husband in order to harm his reputation and cricketing career if he did not comply with her requests. The husband bought three immovable properties in Australia from his own funds but was compelled by the wife to make her the 99% owner in one property and joint owner in two properties. 

The wife had taken a chunk of net sale proceeds of one property, the entire net sale proceeds of the second property and was demanding that the title of the third property be transferred to her. Despite the wife being skilled and qualified, the husband was compelled to pay substantial monies to the wife per month towards maintenance etc. averaging AU $ 17,000 per month as also to provide for the two daughters of the wife from her previous marriage without disclosing where the funds are flowing. The husband was compelled to pay not only all the living costs of the wife and the three children, one daughter being major, for their holidays with business class travel and stay in five-star hotels as well. 

To pressurize the husband to give her more money and to transfer in her favour the title of the property where she was residing, the wife sent defamatory and false messages to the husband’s banker, Mr. Rajeev Duggal and sent screenshots of these texts to the Indian national team coach, Mr. B Arun, who was on tour to Australia with the husband, and Dhiraj Malhotra, CEO of Delhi Capitals, causing the husband extreme humiliation and embarrassment. Threatened into submission, the husband sought to settle the matter vide divorce by mutual consent eventually on her terms. There had been proceedings in Australia between the parties, which had been malafidely used by the wife not only to unjustly enrich herself and mischievously secure the release in her favour of the payment of AU $2,636,500 from the husband and the transfer of title to her of the property where she has been residing, without divorce having been granted. 

The husband purchased a property in Clyde North, Australia between AU $ 850,000- $900,000 from his earnings and savings and a loan from ANZ Bank. She compelled him to put this property in their joint names under the threat of fabricating and circulating defamatory and false material against the husband and later on the property being sold for a sum of AU $ 935,000, the wife retained AU $ 82,000 from the sale proceeds. In 2017, the husband purchased vacant land located at Berwick, Australia for AU $2,470,000 from his earnings and savings and took a loan from ANZ Bank for which the parties were joint borrowers. Although the husband solely contributed all funds towards the property, the mortgage and expenses, he was compelled to purchase this property in the wife’s name as 99% owner under her threat of fabricating and circulating defamatory and false material against the husband as aforesaid. Given that the international reputation and stature as also the cricketing career of the husband was at stake due to such defamatory and false whatsapp messages published and circulated by the wife, the husband sought to settle the matter with the wife by taking divorce...