The Supreme Court issued a notice in a special leave petition filed by a husband challenging a Court order in which the plea of his wife was allowed through which she is alleging adultery by him, to obtain and preserve his call detail and other details of hotel stay.
The petitioner raised the matter of the right to privacy in the case and asked the court whether the fundamental right to privacy of a spouse can be breached in an adultery case in divorce proceedings.
A bench of Two-Judges (Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Sanjay Kumar) was hearing an SLP against the Delhi High Court judgment upholding the directions issued by a Family Court to a Jaipur-based hotel to submit the booking details, IDs of occupants of a room on a specific date and also the mobile service provider of the husband to submit the call details records.
The wife has alleged that her husband has engaged in an adulterous relationship with his friend. They both were met at a hotel in Jaipur.
The petitioner contended that the decision of the family court violates his fundamental right to privacy. He further submitted that the High Court had set a ‘regressive and draconian’ example turning the clock behind and pushing society to get back to the era prior to Justice KS Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, (2017).
He also contended that the matter is civil in nature and the allegations are related to private wrongs and the impugned order is not only hampering the reputation and other incidental relationships of the petitioner but also allowing society to put a question mark on his friend’s character and chastity.
The petitioner argued that instead of holding that adultery is not a public wrong where the community as a whole is a victim, it is just a wrong qua the spouse and the family, the High Court, in the impugned judgement, upheld the Family Court’s decision in which it was directed to conduct a roving and fishing inquiry into the life of the petitioner.
From the petitioner’s side, Ms. Preeti Singh, AOR along with advocates Mr. Sunklan Porwal, Adv. Ms. Saumya Dwivedi, Adv. Adv. Ms. Kumkum Mandhanya, Adv. Ms. Simranjeet Kaur, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Munjal were appeared.
While the respondents were represented by Mr. S.S. Jauhar, AOR along with advocates Mr. Prabhjit Jauhar, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Thakur, Adv. Ms. Gauri Rajput.
Source: https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-fundamental-right-to-privacy-adultery-allegation-divorce-proceedings-232117