Kolkata’s Alipore court on Monday issued an arrest warrant against India pacer Mohammed Shami, currently on a tour to the West Indies, in connection with a domestic violence case filed by his estranged wife Hasin Jahan.
The warrant has been issued by additional chief judicial magistrate Subrata Mukherjee on a case filed by Hasin Jahan against Shami and his brother. The court has given Shami 15 days time to surrender considering his current assignment.
It’s in court notice that Shami is playing abroad, hence court gave him 15 days window to surrender. It is written in the court order that if he fails to appear, then law will take its own course. In his brother’s case, the arrest warrant comes into effect from today itself. The warrant against Shami would be kept in abeyance for 15 days, said Hasin Jahan s advocate Anirban Guha Thakurta.
The warrants were issued under sections 498A of the Indian Penal Code (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust). However, Shami’s lawyer Salim Rahaman claimed a victory since the court dropped charges against Shami’s mother and sister.
It was our victory. The court has asked Shami to appear in 15 days after returning to India. Also charges against his parents and sister has been dropped, he said.
He added that the three prime allegations of rape (allegedly by Shami s elder brother), attempt to murder and physical assault were dropped from the case.
Meanwhile, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that has been helming the BCCI will discuss if Shami should be made available for selection for India s upcoming home Test series against South Africa in the wake of the latest development.
Reaction time
According to a source, the CoA needs some reaction time before taking a decision. Shami is not part of the 15-member Indian squad for the three T20 Internationals against the Proteas, commencing on September 15. The 29-year-old fast bowler, however, is a regular in the 50-over format and Test cricket. After the T20Is, India will play three Tests against South Africa from October 2.
Kolkata Police submitted a chargesheet against Shami in March and it is claimed that 25-30 people had recorded their statements in the case as witnesses.
On March 8 last year, Kolkata Police had registered an FIR against Shami and others on the basis of a complaint filed by Hasin Jahan. The two were married on April 7, 2014, about two years after they met at a Kolkata Knight Riders party and have a daughter.
Following the controversy, Shami was also subjected to a probe by the anti-corruption unit of the Cricket Board as his wife had also accused him of receiving money from a Pakistani woman named Alishba on the insistence of an England-based businessman, Mohammad Bhai.
However, the BCCI later gave him the clean chit. Hasin Jahan had also shared screenshots of her husband’s alleged affair on social media.
