Split Personality

Still,Deshmukhs is the name that accompanies headline-making divorces in this country. Whether its Mahesh Bhupathi-Shveta Jaishanker or Adnan Sami-Sabah Galadhari,the boldface names of our generation head to Deshmukh when they want to head for Splitsville.

I think it all began with Aamir Khans divorce in 2002-03, Deshmukh recalls her first celebrity client. He found me through a solicitor friend of mine who helped him draw up contracts. He had recommended my name to Aamir, she says. Deshmukhs other famous clients include Arun Nayar and Valentina Pedroni,Aditya Chopra and Payal Chopra,and Raja Dhody and Queenie Singh.

I am a lawyer for some celebrities but I am not a celebrity lawyer, she insists. Eighty per cent of my clients are names you will not recognise. Deshmukh,the daughter of eminent jurist Dr TK Tope,says she became a matrimonial lawyer by default. She did her masters in commercial and matrimonial Law at Bombay University,as it was known then,and practised civil law at the High Court. In 1982,she took a break for 14 years to raise her two children. I lived in Bandra then and the Mumbai family court was in Bandra East. It was convenient, she says matter-of-factly.

***

A celebrity divorce is never an easy one,but Deshmukh has her role down pat. These are deeply personal issues and you have to bare yourself completely. The most important thing is confidentiality. My take on this is that once its between us,its only between us. But once the documents go to court,its anyones property.
She is right. Getting divorced is bad enough but reading about it in the newspapers is a special kind of hell. A daily broadsheet printed the entire contents of the Aamir Khan-Reena Khan divorce papers. They were the most simple and grounded people I have ever met,a couple with extreme maturity, Deshmukh says. I advised them not to put their settlement details down on paper and no one would find out. I still dont know the financial details myself.

The Chopras were the most discreet. Aditya wanted to make sure Payal felt comfortable with me, says Deshmukh,who represented the couple. She was really very reserved at first and it took her three meetings to come out of her shell. But they were so respectful. Their divorce was finalised six months ago but very few details were made known. Their settlement was not documented for the court proceedings; we just write that the parties have come to an out-of-court settlement. But the judge does ask the wife if she received her settlement, she says.

Sami and his Dubai-raised wife Galadhari have had no such luck. Their proceedings and battles are documented every week in newspapers. I advise all my clients to settle amicably; there is no point or an end to the bitterness, says Deshmukh,who represents Galadhari. With Adnan,its common knowledge that hes an alcoholic. The kind of harassment that Galadhari has had to go through is just not acceptable, she says. Its not a case of two people not getting along,there are criminal cases involved here. There is a property dispute between then. Its sad that people think Galadhari is a gold-digger when she is the one who loaned him money…Rs 5.3 crore.

Moreover,Sami has gone and remarried,stating his faith allows him to. The matter is still sub judice and Deshmukh says she doesnt see an end in the near future.
The law for celebrities is obviously the same. But the stakes are higher when famous people are involved,no one wants their personal details to become public knowledge. Plus,in an Indian scenario,a persons future income is not considered, she explains. And yet,its been reported that Deshmukh the common counsel for Bhupathi and Jaishanker ensured Jaishankers settlement was pegged between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore and that she got to keep their spacious apartment in Bangalores tony Langford Gardens area. 

The Nayar-Pedroni divorce was a tough one. The couple married in Italy and Italian law requires equitable distribution of global assets. But Nayar filed for divorce in India,as Indian divorce laws are more sensitive to husbands where maintenance and alimony are concerned. Plus,Nayar and his lawyer Aban Patel used the Foreign Marriage Act. One of the parties needs to be an Indian citizen. Nayar was a Britisher and Pedroni Italian,so it could not be valid, says Deshmukh,who represented Pedroni.
Eventually,Valentina decided to file in England and the Indian one was withdrawn. She had a better settlement than she would have had here. But the fact that Nayar surreptitiously filed from India meant that he was protecting something. The tigress in her comes to the fore,albeit momentarily.

Deshmukh was on the Nayar-Pedroni case for over a year and nobody knew. I myself didnt know they were celebrities. I knew he was socially known and that she was a model,but thats it, she says. But a national daily had front-paged their embarrassingly acrimonious petitions against each other.
Thats one of the good things about the Indian legal system: you have to prove the marriage has failed, Deshmukh says. If one of the parties does not want a divorce,it is contested. A lot of filth comes out,but one has to make the case strong. A lawyer may have to colour incompatibility as highly unreasonable behaviour. In the US,you will find one-page petitions,but in India,they run into 15 pages.

The ills that ail matrimonial divorces? The delays, she says. A lot of things contribute to delays and its often not an individualits often due to the volume of work and the lack of proper infrastructure to manage it. The Indian courts are often a struggle for clients,lawyers and judges. 

***

The most famous divorce lawyer has been married (to the same man,she laughingly adds) for 30 years. Her husband,Dr Vijay Deshmukh,is a gastroenterologist surgeon. Of their two children,Vikramaditya,27,is a corporate lawyer,while Devika,23,has just finished law studies. Her mantra for a long-term marriage? Respect and tolerance, she answers. Couple that with a strong value system. I still live in a joint family.
Deshmukh insists watching marriages dissolve around her every single day has never made her question her own. I never doubted it for one minute. When you see others problems you learn to adjust to your own, she says. Its strange: as a lawyer I have to magnify issues,as a wife,I have to overlook them.
Old-fashioned values obviously work for her. That,and a dash of old-fashioned romance: her ringtone is Glenn Medeiros crooning the sappy Nothings gonna change my love for you.