New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that secretly recorded conversations between spouses are admissible as evidence in matrimonial cases. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma held that the act of one spouse snooping on another is itself indicative of marital breakdown and can be considered in judicial proceedings.

The bench set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment which had ruled such conversations were protected under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act and thus inadmissible in court. The Supreme Court restored the order passed by the Bathinda Family Court and directed the family court to resume proceedings with judicial consideration of the recorded conversations.

Privacy argument rejected

The case originated from a Bathinda Family Court decision permitting a husband to rely on a compact disc containing secretly recorded phone conversations with his wife to support allegations of cruelty. The wife challenged this in the High Court, contending that the recordings were made without her knowledge or consent, thereby violating her fundamental right to privacy.

Accepting her plea, the High Court ruled the recordings inadmissible, stating that such surreptitious conduct constituted a breach of privacy and could not be legally justified.

However, the apex court disagreed with this view. Justice Nagarathna stated: “Some arguments have been made that permitting such evidence would jeopardise domestic harmony and matrimonial relationships as it would encourage snooping on the spouses, therefore infringing the objective of Section 122 of the Evidence Act. 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.”

Section 122 and marital communication

Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act provides that no person who is or has been married shall be compelled to disclose any communication made during the marriage by their spouse. The High Court had relied on this section to rule against the admissibility of the recordings.

The Supreme Court’s ruling now clarifies that secret recordings between spouses, if produced in the context of matrimonial disputes, do not fall under this protection when the nature of the relationship has deteriorated.

A detailed judgment from the apex court is awaited.