In a landmark judgment, the Madras High Court has affirmed that spousal privacy is protected under the fundamental right to privacy in India. This ruling arose from a case where a husband submitted his wife’s call records, obtained without her consent, as evidence in a family dispute. Justice GR Swaminathan underscored that marital trust is essential and that unauthorized monitoring infringes on individual autonomy.
Rejecting the lower court’s acceptance of such evidence, the High Court emphasized that privacy, even within marriage, must be preserved. Justice Swaminathan’s ruling acknowledges that while family and societal expectations shape marriage, an individual’s right to autonomy and private life remains paramount. Privacy violations, especially through surveillance, disrupt the foundational trust in marriages and weaken the core of individual rights.
The decision aligns with previous Indian rulings that underscore the constitutional guarantee of privacy, setting an impactful precedent for family law and privacy rights in India. It sends a strong message on the importance of respecting spousal boundaries and reinforces the legal stance against using unlawfully gathered personal information as admissible evidence.
Case citation: C. N. Paramasivam v. Inspector of Police and Others, 2023