Chhattisgarh High Court has said that recording telephone conversations without the permission of the person concerned is a violation of the ‘right to privacy’. The High Court quashed the order of the Family Court of Mahasamund which had allowed the use of mobile phone recordings as evidence in a maintenance case.
Advocate Vaibhav A. Govardhan said on Saturday that the single judge bench of Chhattisgarh High Court has said that recording telephone conversations of the person concerned without his permission is a violation of his ‘right to privacy’ under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Advocate Govardhan said that an application was filed by the petitioner (wife) under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for grant of maintenance, which is pending before the Family Court of Mahasamund since 2019.
The lawyer said that the petitioner woman had presented evidence related to this in the court. On the other hand, the woman’s husband had refused to pay alimony on the basis of doubt about his wife’s character. She filed an application before the Family Court and stated that the conversations of the petitioner had been recorded on her mobile phone. The husband wants to cross-examine her before the court on the basis of the said conversation. The court accepted the said application and granted permission.
The lawyer said that the petitioner, aggrieved by the said order of the Family Court dated 21 October 2021, approached the High Court and prayed to cancel it. On behalf of the petitioner, it was said that this would be a violation of his right to privacy.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the trial court had committed a legal error by allowing the application. This order violates the petitioner’s right to privacy. It was also stated that the conversation was recorded by the respondent (husband) without the knowledge of the petitioner, hence it cannot be used against her.
Govardhan said the defendant’s lawyer said the husband wanted to produce evidence to prove the allegations against his wife, hence he had the right to produce the conversation recorded on the mobile phone.
He said that the bench of Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey in the High Court, after hearing the case on October 5, 2023, canceled the order of October 21, 2021 passed by the Mahasamund Family Court. The court has held that recording telephone conversations without the permission of the person concerned is a violation of his ‘right to privacy’ under Article 21 of the Constitution.
