Mohammad Shami issued notice by SC

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Indian cricketer Mohammad Shami regarding a plea from his estranged wife Hasin Jahan requesting increased interim maintenance for herself and their minor daughter.Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan have asked Shami to respond to his wife’s challenge of two Calcutta High Court orders from July 1 and August 25.

The Calcutta High Court had increased the interim maintenance to Rs 1.5 lakh monthly for his wife and Rs 2.5 lakh for their daughter. Shami was allowed to clear the arrears in eight monthly instalments.His wife’s plea states that these amounts are “grossly inadequate” considering the cricketer’s financial standing and “lavish lifestyle.”She is seeking Rs 7 lakh monthly maintenance for herself and Rs 3 lakh for their daughter.According to the petition, Shami’s annual income per his 2021-22 Income Tax Return was approximately Rs 48 crore. Meanwhile, his wife claims she lives in “downtrodden conditions” struggling with basic expenses.The petition mentions Shami’s luxury vehicle collection, including a Range Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Toyota Fortuner. The couple married in April 2014.In 2018, his wife filed an FIR at Jadavpur police station in Kolkata alleging domestic violence, leading to a chargesheet against Shami.She later approached a court under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act for interim maintenance.Initially, a trial court granted Rs 80,000 monthly for the child but denied maintenance to Shami’s wife.The Sessions Court later awarded Rs 50,000 to his wife and maintained Rs 80,000 for the child in 2023.The Calcutta High Court’s July 1 order increased these amounts to Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh, respectively. The August 25 order permitted Shami to pay arrears in instalments.Senior advocate Shobha Gupta represented the cricketer’s estranged wife in court.