Recording Wife's Calls Is Violation Of Her Privacy: High Court

In a statement passed by the Punjab & Haryana High Court stated that if a husband records wife's call without her knowledge or consent, then it will be considered an infringement of wife's privacy. The HC statement on wife's privacy was issued by Justice Lisa Gill.

The case under which the HC judgement on wife's privacy was passed was of a woman who had challenged a decision passed in 2020 by the Bathinda Family Court. The petitioner's husband had presented a CD of the conversation between him and his wife that he recorded as a proof in Bathinda Family Court. The court had allowed the consideration of the recorded CD disregarding the women's privacy.

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HC Judgement On Wife's Privacy:

Lisa Gill's court said that the recording of wife's conversation without her knowledge is clear infringement of privacy. The court also added that the recording was not a valid proof as it was knowingly recorded by one of the parties and the circumstances under which the conversation was held cannot be ascertained.

All About The Case:

The couple got married in 2009 and had a daughter together. The husband had submitted a divorce application in 2017. The husband, in July 2019, issued an application in the court requesting to submit affidavits and CD recordings. The Bathinda Family Court allowed the husband to present the CD subject to the condition of correctness. The court also observed that considering the Section 14 and 20 of Family Court Act, the principles of evidence were not applicable to the proceedings before it, as reported by Indian Express.

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The woman moved to High Court. In woman's defense, her counsel claimed that the pleadings and the recorded conversations were not related at all and hence, they could not be used as an evidence. The counsel also argued that the recording of conversations without the woman's knowledge was a violation of privacy and Article 21 of Indian Constitution.

The counsel pointed out many faults in the Bathinda Family Court's decision. They said that in addition to violating Article 21, the court also violated Article 65 Of Indian Constitution that says that phone recorded conversation cannot be used as court evidence.

The counsel put forward the fact that the conversations were recorded intentionally much before the filing of the divorce and hence, he used it as soon as he got a chance. Even if the conversations do come out to be correct, the CD and transcripts of recordings are still unacceptable as they are infringement of privacy that was also stated in HC statement on wife's privacy.

The counsel from the husband's side argued that there was no case of violation of privacy and the conversations were recorded as an evidence to the wife's behavior towards the husband. She had always been cruel with him and the recordings were an attempt to prove the same.