Smt. Saroj Vs Aashish Yadav (Madhya Pradesh High Court)
The Madhya Pradesh High Court, in the case of Smt. Saroj Vs. Aashish Yadav, has quashed an order by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Indore, which allowed a husband to submit an electronic document (compact disk) containing alleged illicit chats of his wife. The wife had challenged this decision, arguing that such recorded conversations were inadmissible and violated her fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The husband had sought to introduce the pendrive, claiming it contained chats revealing his wife’s illicit relationship. The Trial Court allowed this, noting that the matter was at the evidence stage and the wife would have an opportunity to rebut the evidence. However, the High Court disagreed with this reasoning.
Citing its own precedents in Anurima alias Abha Mehta Vs. Sunil Mehta [AIR 2016 Madhya Pradesh 112] and Abhishek Ranjan and Hemlata Chaubey (Misc.Petition No.1300/2023 decided on August 29, 2023), the Madhya Pradesh High Court reiterated that if a husband records conversations of his wife with another person without her knowledge, it constitutes an infringement of her right to privacy and violates Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. While the husband’s counsel argued that direct evidence of adultery is rare and Article 21 is not absolute, the High Court’s past rulings emphasized privacy rights.
