Can spouse’s fundamental right to privacy be breached to prove adultery allegations?
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, July 7
Can the fundamental right to privacy of a spouse be breached in case of an allegation of adultery in divorce proceedings?
Faced with this rather tricky legal question that has arisen after a seven-judge Constitution Bench in 2017 declared right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has decided to examine if allowing a spouse’s plea seeking details of hotel stays and call records to prove allegations of adultery a ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 would violate his/her fundamental right to privacy.
A Bench led by Justice Krishna Murari has issued notice to a woman after her husband challenged a Delhi High Court order that said it will not be in public interest for the court to come to the aid of a married man, who indulged in alleged sexual relationships outside the wedlock, on the premise of right to privacy.
The man has challenged the May 10 order of the Delhi High Court that dismissed his plea against a family court’s December 14, 2022, order to preserve the documents related to reservation, payment details and ID proofs of a particular room in a hotel between April 29 and May 1, 2022, and send it to the court in a sealed cover.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s decision, the HC said though the right to privacy was a constitutionally protected right, it’s not an absolute right and was subject to reasonable restrictions, especially when the restrictions were in public interest.
When a wife seeks the court’s help for procuring evidence, which would go a long way to prove adultery on the part of her husband, the court must step in, the HC said, noting that it would be in consonance with Section 14 of the Family Courts Act which empowered the court to consider evidence which may be not admissible or relevant under the Indian Evidence Act.
The payment and reservation details along with the ID proof of the occupants of the room will surely throw light on this crucial issue as to whether the man was indeed staying with a lady other than his wife in the same room, the HC said, adding the call details will surely be indicative of the fact as to whether the conversations of the petitioner with the lady were of such duration and frequency as is not expected between colleagues.
