Why your private chats and calls may now be used against you in court

Less than a month after the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed the use of WhatsApp chats obtained without consent as evidence in a divorce case, the Supreme Court has gone a step further, ruling that secret recordings of conversations between spouses are also admissible in matrimonial disputes. The July 14 ruling from the apex court effectively extends this principle nationwide.

While the MP High Court had relied on the relaxed evidentiary standards of the Family Courts Act, the Supreme Court ruling addressed the issue from the perspective of Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, which governs communications between spouses.