Shikhar Dhawan granted divorce due to mental cruelty by wife Aesha Mukerji

Shikhar Dhawan granted divorce with wife Aesha Mukerji by a family court in Delhi.

A family court in Delhi has granted cricketer Shikhar Dhawan a divorce from his estranged wife, Aesha Mukerji. The court ruled in favor of Shikhar Dhawan, stating that Aesha had subjected him to mental cruelty. The judgment was passed by Judge Harish Kumar, who accepted all the allegations made by Dhawan in his divorce petition because Aesha did not contest these allegations or offer a defense.

The judge specifically noted that Aesha had caused Shikhar Dhawan significant mental agony by forcing him to live separately from their son for an extended period. While the court did not make any permanent custody orders, it granted Dhawan visitation rights to meet his son in India and Australia and allowed them to have video calls.

Furthermore, the court ordered Aesha to bring their child to India for visitation purposes, including overnight stays with Shikhar Dhawan and his family members, at least for half of the school vacation periods during the academic calendar.

The court also acknowledged the fact that Shikhar Dhawan requested the Union Government to take up the custodial issue of his minor son with its counterpart in Australia. The ruling stated, “Since petitioner is a reputed International Cricketer and has been pride of the nation, subject to petitioner approaching the Union Government of India, it is requested to take up the issue of visitation/custody of the minor son with its counterpart in Australia to help him have regular visitation or chatting with his own son or his permanent custody." 

According to Shikhar Dhawan's claims in his plea, Aesha had initially agreed to live with him in India but couldn't do so due to commitments to her ex-husband and her own children in Australia. She had promised her ex-husband not to leave Australia, where she currently resides with her two daughters and a son from her marriage to Dhawan.

“He (Shikhar Dhawan) for no fault of his own had been through immense agony and anguish of living separately from his own son for years. Even though the wife denied the allegation, submitting that though she genuinely wanted to live in India with him, however due to her commitment towards her daughters from her previous marriage requiring her to stay in Australia, she could not come to live in India and that he was well aware of her commitment, yet she did not choose to contest the claim," the judgment read.

In addition to the above, the family court ruled that Dhawan's testimony remained uncontested by Aesha, and therefore, everything Dhawan stated has been decided in his favor. “Thus, in the absence of any of probable defense, Dhawan's allegation that she compelled him to make her owner to some extent in all three properties or that she pocketed sale proceeds thereof to the extent pleaded and testified to by him has got to be believed as true.”

The court also considered Dhawan's allegations that Aesha had compelled him to make her the owner of a significant portion of properties in Australia, which he had purchased with his own money. Aesha had also forced him to make her a joint owner in two other properties. Since Aesha did not contest these claims, the court accepted Dhawan's allegations as true.

Regarding Aesha's alleged sending of defamatory messages to various authorities in the country's cricket board and IPL team owners, she claimed it was to ensure her monthly maintenance payments were made on time. However, the court rejected her claim and ruled that she had sent defamatory texts to several individuals with the intention of pressuring, defaming, and humiliating Dhawan.

The court also accepted Dhawan's allegation that Aesha had quarreled with him when he took time off to care for his ailing father when he contracted COVID-19. 

Additionally, Aesha had requested financial support for her daughters while they were in Australia, leading to increased monthly payments from Dhawan.

"Petitioner further alleged that in or around January 2020, the Aesha and the minor son came to India to spend a prolonged period of time, but her daughters stayed back in Australia but still she compelled him to send her daughters AU $15,500 per month (inclusive of mortgage payments) on the pretext that they were struggling to survive." the family court noted