A family court in Mumbai on Thursday granted divorce to Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and his estranged wife Dhanashree Verma..This was confirmed to Bar & Bench by Chahal's advocate Nitin Gupta and Verma's advocate Aditi Mohoni.The divorce was granted a day after the Bombay High Court ordered the family court to decide the divorce plea by today, since Chahal is due to participate in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).As per the terms of divorce, Chahal is required to pay alimony of ₹4.75 crores to Verma in two instalments. On Wednesday, the High Court had allowed a plea filed by the Chahal and Verma to waive the cooling-off period of six months stipulated under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act for a divorce decree.The High Court passed the order after taking into consideration that Chahal and Verma have been living apart for over two and a half years and that there was compliance with the consent terms arrived at during mediation between the two parties as regards payment of alimony. .Chahal, who is a spinner for the Kings XI Punjab IPL team, is set to join his team for the league commencing on March 22.Chahal and Verma got married in December 2020 and separated in June 2022. They filed a joint petition before family court on February 5 seeking divorce on the basis of mutual consent. They also sought a waiver of the cooling-off period.Under Section 13B(2), a family court can consider a mutual petition for divorce only after six months from the date of its filing. The cooling-off period is provided to explore possibilities of settlement and reunion. However, the Supreme Court in 2017 held that the said period can be waived off in case there is no scope for settlement of dispute between the parties..The family court on February 20 denied the request to waive the statutory cooling-off period.This was on the ground that there was only partial compliance with the consent terms which required Chahal to pay ₹4.75 crore to Dhanashree. He has paid ₹2.37 crores, the family court noted.The family court also cited a report from a marriage counselor, which had said that there was only partial compliance with the mediation efforts.This led to the plea before the High Court.The High Court disagreed with the family court's February 20 order. The High Court observed that there was compliance with the consent terms since it provided for the payment of a second installment of permanent alimony after the decree of divorce.As such, there was no impediment to allowing the plea by Chahal and Verma to waive the cooling-off period, the High Court had said.Therefore, it ordered the family court to decide the case on Thursday.
