A Rs 4.75 crore alimony deal lies at the heart of the high-stakes divorce between Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and his estranged wife Dhanashree Verma. The Bombay High Court recently granted their plea to waive the mandatory six-month cooling-off period under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, clearing the way for a speedy conclusion to their split, according to Bar and Bench.
Justice Madhav Jamdar of the Bombay High Court quashed a previous family court order that denied this waiver. According to the High Court, the settlement terms were properly followed, including the alimony arrangement specifying a total of Rs 4.75 crore. The court noted that the second instalment—amounting to Rs 2.38 crore—would only fall due after the divorce decree.
In delivering the order, the single-judge bench directed the family court to finalize the divorce petition swiftly, citing the cricketer’s upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments. “As petitioner 1 (Chahal) is participant of IPL, learned counsel informs that he may not be available from 21st March, the learned judge family court is requested to decide petition by tomorrow,” the court stated.
IPL season begins soon
Chahal, who bowls for the Kings XI Punjab, is set to join his team on March 22. He and Verma have been living apart for over two and a half years. Their marriage, solemnized in December 2020, ended in separation in June 2022. Both parties filed for mutual consent divorce on February 5 of this year, but the family court initially refused to waive the cooling-off period, pointing to “only partial compliance” with alimony payments.
However, the High Court’s intervention clarified that Chahal’s payment schedule was in line with the consent terms. It further underscored that under the 2017 Supreme Court ruling, the six-month waiting period can be waived when there is no possibility of settlement or reunion.
“Thus it is clear that there is no impediment in the facts and circumstances of the case in granting the applications,” the High Court held. Having established the requisite conditions for a waiver, the court instructed the lower court to pass a final decree by the next day, paving the way for the couple to officially end their marriage.