Name of the Case: Vibhor Garg v. Neha.
Citation: SLP (C) No. 21195/2021
Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Bench: Hon’ble Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma
Date: 14.07.2025
In a significant ruling, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that any secretly recorded telephonic conversations between spouses, shall be admissible as evidence in matrimonial disputes, especially in cases where alleged mental cruelty needs to be proved. The Hon’ble Bench clarified that section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which bars disclosure of marital communications, does not apply when spouses are litigating against each other, and that this does not violate the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Rejecting the earlier view by the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Hon’ble Supreme Court emphasised that the right to a fair trial, and the right to discovery of truth in matrimonial disputes outweighs any concerns about privacy, particularly when the marriage is already strained. The Hon’ble Court also dismissed the argument that such admission of private call recordings could encourage surveillance between spouses, stating that such conduct is often a symptom of a relationship that has broken down, not a cause of it.
