Adnan Sami: I have faith in the judiciary

By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, July 28 -- Adnan Sami's messy separation from ex-wife Sabah Galadani has been grabbing headlines for the past year. Recently, Sabah discovered that Sami's fourth and current wife, Roya Faryabi, was living in the plush apartment at Lokhandwala Complex that, she says, now technically belongs to her. And she got an eviction order from the Family Court. Roya has refused to leave her husband's side and Sami has challenged the order, pointing out that his second marriage to Sabah is null and void.

Against the law

According to Muslim law, if a woman chooses to remarry her ex-husband, she is first required to take on another husband and divorce him. Sami insists that he was made to believe that Sabah had followed the procedure. And following a family tradition had gifted her property that he had bought as a declaration of his love.

"Sabah is well-off, with several hotels to her name. Still, I'd insisted on the gift, but I've since discovered that I was deceived. When I transferred the property to her, Sabah wasn't even my legally-wedded wife," Sami reasons, saying that he had raised the point in the Family Court. But Sabah then filed an appeal and the dispute is now in the Supreme Court.

As a matter of principle, Sami says, he has refused to give in to Sabah's pressure tactics and vacate the premises. "I have faith in the judiciary," he asserts. "I just wish Sabah had gone about the separation in a civilised manner instead of harassing my family and me. Our marriage has become a joke, ridiculous concoctions have been made and people who don't even know me are jumping to conclusions."

Sabah had earlier filed a complaint against Sami under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, alleging that he was an alcoholic and had roughed her up. The singer-musician responds to the charges saying, "I don't drink now; I used to earlier like so many others, but downing a few pegs doesn't make me an alcoholic. And I wouldn't even hurt a fly."

No evidence

He points out that Sabah has not been able to produce any evidence (to support her claim) in the year gone by. "There were no marks on her body and no medical reports. If she had been able to prove her charges, action would have been taken against me. And if I was such bad husband, why did she come back for a second innings?" he questions

Roya, Sami's current wife, is a telecon engineer and as project manager of a US firm, would often come to Mumbai. Love blossomed between the two and Sami married her on April 3 this year. "My father used to say that when God closes one door on you, he opens 10 more," Sami smiles. "I believe him now. Roya just has to smile, and my energy quotient goes up."

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