HC stays family court order asking Adnan Sami to pay ex-wife

Adnan Sami

The Bombay High Court on Thursday stayed a family court order asking Pakistani singer Adnan Sami to hand over five flats in suburban Andheri to his ex-wife Sabah Galadari by the first week of June besides paying certain amount to her.

The stay was granted till June 10 by a vacation bench of justices Anil Memon and R D Dhanuka on an appeal filed by Sami against the family court order.

Adnan Sami

The family court on April 5 had also ordered Sami to pay Galadari Rs 5.3 crore towards money she gave him between 2007-08 and Rs 1 crore as domestic violence compensation, Rs 10 lakh as belated 'mehr' and Rs 1 lakh for litigation costs.

Galadari has filed a matrimonial dispute suit in the family court at Bandra claiming compensation from Sami as well as the flats saying that Sami had gifted them to her in 2008.

Hearing Sami's appeal today, the judges, however, said "Till the next date (June 10), the implementation, execution and effect of the impugned order of April 5 passed by the family court filed by the respondent (Galadari) is stayed."

However, the judges made it clear that the high court was not expressing any views on the merits of the matter.

Sami's lawyer Ranbir Singh sought quashing of the impugned order saying it was "erroneous, illegal, ultra vires, contrary to settled principles of law, and unsustainable". Besides, he argued, 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.

In the appeal, Sami claimed that the judge's premise of stating that domestic violence was committed is discriminatory.

Counsel for Galadari, Mrunalini Deshmukh and Edith Dey, sought time on the ground that they had not been served with the papers and proceedings of the appeal filed by Sami. Hence, the court stayed the family court order till June 10.