Former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has received major legal and financial relief from a family court in Delhi. Just days after his second marriage, the Patiala House Court has ordered his ex-wife Ayesha Mukherjee to return ₹5.7 crore (approximately AU$894,397) received as part of the divorce settlement. Dhawan and Ayesha Mukherjee married in 2012 and divorced in 2021. The two have a son, Zorawar, who was born in 2014.
According to Bar & Bench report, Patiala House Court judge Devendra Kumar Garg said that the financial agreements were made under threat, extortion, deceit and fraud. The court found that these agreements were made in an environment of duress and alleged fraud.
The court ordered that Mukherjee would have to return the entire amount he had received under the interim agreement from the sale of a property in Australia. The court also directed that 9 percent annual interest will have to be paid on this amount from the date of filing of the suit by Dhawan.
The Delhi Family Court also said that the Australian court did not have jurisdiction to hear this matrimonial dispute. Therefore, the property related orders passed there were declared null and void.
Dhawan had argued in the court that the amount calculated by the Australian court was contrary to the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act and Indian law. He had also demanded that he should not be considered bound by the orders of a foreign court. The court accepted their arguments and said that they were not bound by Australian orders.
During the divorce proceedings, Dhawan had alleged that soon after their marriage, his wife threatened to circulate fabricated, defamatory and false material to damage his reputation and cricket career. Dhawan also said that he bought several properties from his personal income, but was forced to register them in joint names. In one case, a property he had purchased listed his wife as the 99 percent owner.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Australian court had passed several orders regarding property division. However, now after the decision of Delhi Family Court, those orders will no longer be effective in India. The decision is being seen as a major legal victory for Dhawan, providing him significant relief in his long-running property dispute.
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