"If The Marriage...": Top Court Allows Spouse's Recorded Calls As Evidence

The secretly recorded telephonic conversation of a spouse is admissible evidence in a matrimonial dispute case, the Supreme Court ruled today. The top court set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling that secretly recording a spouse's telephone conversation amounted to a breach of privacy and cannot be admitted as evidence in a family court.

Dictating the order, Justice BV Nagarathna said some arguments have contended that allowing such conversations as evidence would jeopardise domestic harmony and matrimonial relationships and encourage snooping on spouses. "We don't think such an argument is tenable. If the marriage has reached a stage where spouses are actively snooping on each other, that is in itself a symptom of a broken relationship and denotes a lack of trust between them," Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the judgment. The bench also comprised Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.

What Is The Case

The matter, which first came up in a Bhatinda family court, involves divorce proceedings under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The husband accused his wife of cruelty and cited recorded phone conversations to prove his allegation. The family court allowed a CD with these recordings as evidence. The wife challenged this in the High Court, arguing that the calls were recorded without her consent and accepting them as evidence would breach her fundamental right to privacy.

The high court agreed and set aside the family court's order. The bench said the responses over the call and the circumstances in which they were made could not be ascertained. The high court reiterated that spouses talk openly without considering that their words could be scrutinised in a courtroom. The husband challenged this ruling in the top court, which has now ruled in his favour.