Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and his model-wife Shweta Jaishankar on Thursday separated formally after a local family court granted them divorce.
The duo had ended their six-and-half-year-old married life in October, last year. Mrunalini Deshmukh, common counsel for both the parties, told PTI, "Mahesh and Shweta had sought for divorce last year which was granted today by the Bandra Family Court on mutual consent, due to incompatibility between the two."
The celebrity couple split by mutual consent on the grounds that they were “no longer compatible partners” in the marital game. Shvetha walked away with a settlement pegged between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, said sources close to the duo.The former model, who said she felt “hurt and pain” at Bhupati's numerous link-ups — the latest one being actor Lara Dutta — believed there was “no point in keeping the six-yearold marriage intact when nothing remained in it”.
The two split by mutual consent on the grounds that they were “no longer compatible partners” in the marital game on Thursday. Shvetha walked away with a settlement pegged between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, said sources close to the duo. She also got to keep the couple's spacious Bangalore flat in the posh Langford Gardens area.
Dressed in a white linen shirt and a pair of blue jeans, Bhupati sat on a wooden bench outside the fourth-floor courtroom. Shvetha, too, was present in an olive green top and trousers but avoided any conversation with him. The couple waited for over an hour till their common lawyer, Mrinalini Deshmukh, took them before the judge at about 30 minutes past noon. In 15 minutes, during which the judge asked them if there was no chance of reconciliation, they were decreed to be no longer man and wife.
The mutual consent petition was moved in the same court last November. Bhupati and Shvetha, who were separated for over two years, said they had “irreconcilable differences” and were only serving each other a loveless existence. The two have not exactly parted ways as “friends” but maintain a civil rapport. Bhupati said, “This is a difficult time for all concerned. The divorce is through. I wish Shvetha the best.”
Shvetha, who shuttles between Mumbai and Chennai, recently broke her silence to a magazine in Mumbai, revealing how her husband had been cheating on her and how he was distracted by the dusky Dutta even though they were still married. She said she felt like a “trophy wife” and agreed to cooperate when her husband “wanted out” as she did not wish to continue in a one-sided marriage.
The model claimed that she realised Bhupati had an “ambitious streak” and that she had fitted in with the “educated, good-looking, good family” image of a wife that such men wanted. The Bhupathis ran a celebrity and sports management company, where the tennis player met his latest love match Lara Dutta. On Thursday as they exited the court premises, Bhupati drove off in a black sedan while his wife and lawyer departed together, reports Times of India.
