Hindu Marriage Act- Court Cannot On Grounds Of Privacy In Divorce Proceedings Come To The Aid Of Married Man Accused Of Adultery: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has observed that the Hindu Marriage Act specifically recognises adultery as a ground for divorce and therefore, it will not be in public interest for the Court on the ground of privacy, come to the aid of a married man who is alleged to have indulged in sexual relationships outside his marriage.

The bench of Justice Rekha Palli referred to the decision of the Supreme Court where it had held that the freedom to have a consensual sexual relationship outside marriage by a married person does not warrant protection under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The High Court made these observations while dealing with a plea of a man who had challenged the Order passed by the Family Court that had directed to preserve the documents related to reservation, ID proofs of a Hotel room for a specific period.

In this case, the wife of the man had filed a divorce petition before the Family Court alleging that her husband was involved in an illegitimate relationship with another woman. The wife had argued that the above details were necessary to prove the charges of adultery against her husband. On the other hand, the husband contended that he merely met one of his friends who was staying in the same hotel with her daughter. The husband contended that divulgence of this information would be violative of his right to privacy or the right of that lady.

Advocate Preeti Singh appeared for the petitioner-husband whereas Advocate Prabhjit Jauhar appeared for the wife.

The High Court noted that the information which the wife sought would be relevant for proving the charge of adultery which she has levelled against her husband.

“The payment and reservations details along with the ID proofs of the occupants of the room will surely throw light on this crucial issue as to whether the petitioner was indeed staying with a lady other than his wife in the same room. Similarly, the call details will surely be indicative of the fact as to whether the conversations of the petitioner with the lady were of such duration and frequency as is not expected between colleagues”, the Court observed.

On the contention of the right to privacy made by the petitioner-husband, the Court noted “This right of privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, has to be necessarily subject to reasonable restrictions especially when the restrictions are in public interest. The Hindu Marriage Act specifically recognises adultery as a ground for divorce and therefore, it would not at all be in public interest that the Court should on the ground of right to privacy, come to the aid of a married man who, during the subsistence of his marriage, is alleged to have indulged in sexual relationships outside his marriage.”

Accordingly the Court dismissed the plea.

Cause Title- ABC v. XYZ (Neutral Citation No. 2023:DHC:3197)

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