The Bombay high court on Tuesday reserved its order in an appeal filed by Pakistani singer Adnan Sami, challenging the family court’s decision, directing him to pay Rs 6.4 crore to his ex-wife Sabah Galadari towards repayment, compensation and Meher (money given by husband to wife after marriage) and also surrender his duplex flat at Andheri.
Sami had sought quashing of the family court order on April 5 on the grounds that it was “erroneous, illegal, ultra vires, contrary to settled principles of law, and is unsustainable”.
On the other hand, Galadari, a citizen of UAE, opposed the appeal stating that the singer was liable to pay the Rs 6.4 crore as directed by the family court after they were granted divorce on the grounds of cruelty and as relief under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
Sami’s counsels, Navroz Seervai and Ranbir Singh, argued that the family court did not appreciate the legal effect of the order of the Enforcement Directorate holding that Sami had no legal title and hence no legal authority to gift the suit property.
Sabah’s counsels, Mahesh Jethmalani and Edith De, contended that Sami has not challenged the basic ground of cruelty on which they have been granted divorce. Hence, he is liable to pay the amount as directed by family court as compensation for violation of DV Act.
Challenging the family court order which asked him to return Rs 5.3 crore which he had borrowed from Galadari, Sami has said that she had failed to prove that she had lent him the amount in the first place.
In addition, the family court had asked Sami to pay Rs 1 crore as compensation for alleged harassment under the DV Act. Challenging this, Sami has said that the amount was decided without disclosing any cogent reasons for arriving at such a figure. “The mere fact that the Respondent (Galadari) is used to an extremely high standard of living and is of high status does not by itself justify imposition of such heavy compensation,” adds his appeal.
Sami has claimed that the judge’s premise of stating that domestic violence was committed is discriminatory.
He has also challenged the award of Rs 10 lakh as meher (money given by husband to wife after marriage) to Galadari.
The two have been in an on-off marriage since 2001. They married in 2001, got divorced in 2004. They had re-married in 2007 and once again got divorced in 2012.
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