JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioner / defendant / wife has filed this misc. petition challenging the order dated 13/4/2023 passed by Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Gwalior in Case No. 122 - A / 2018 (HMA), whereby learned Family Court has permitted the respondent / plaintiff / husband to mark the exhibits on the WhatsApp chats produced by him in his evidence.

2. For the sake of convenience, petitioner and respondent hereinafter shall be referred to as wife and husband respectively.

3. The facts necessary for decision of this case are that the marriage between the parties took place on 1/12/2016 at Gwalior as per Hindu Rites and Rituals. Out of this wedlock, a baby girl was born on 11/10/2017. The husband has filed a suit for dissolution of marriage under S.13 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on the ground of cruelty. He has also pleaded adultery on the part of wife. In order to prove adultery, in paragraphs 8 and 9 of the plaint, specific pleadings have been made with regard to WhatsApp chat of the wife with a third person. The husband has pleaded that by way of a special application installed in the wife's phone, the WhatsApp chatting of her phone are automatically forwarded to his phone, which shows that the wife is having extramarital affair with a third person.

4. The wife has filed her written statement and denied the allegations made in the plaint. It is also borne out from the records that she has also filed an application under S.9 of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking restitution of conjugal rights.

5. When the suit was at the stage of husband's evidence, he sought to exhibit the WhatsApp chats, to which the wife raised an objection. The learned Family Court has rejected the wife's objection and has allowed the husband to exhibit the WhatsApp chats. Being aggrieved by this order of the Family Court, the instant misc. petition has been filed by wife.

6. The learned counsel for the wife submitted that the act of husband in installing an application in wife's mobile, without her consent, was illegal and infringed her rights to privacy. It is his submission that since the evidence has been collected by illegal means, the husband cannot be allowed to rely upon such evidence and such evidence is inadmissible in evidence. He has further submitted that the evidence collected by husband is in violation of S.43, S.66 and S.72 of the Information Technology Act. Learned counsel for the wife has placed reliance upon the judgment of Delhi High Court in the case of National Lawyers Campaign For Judicial Transparency and Reforms and Others v. Union of India and Others, reported in 2017 SCC OnLine Del. 8564, the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Neha Garg v. Vibhor Garg, reported in 2021 SCC OnLine P and H 4571, judgment of Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of Rayala M. Bhuvaneshwari v. Nagaphanender Rayala, reported in AIR 2008 AP 98 and also the judgment of this Court in the case of Ram Talreja v. Smt. Sapna Talreja, passed in M.P. No.949/2022.

7. On the other hand, learned counsel for the husband submitted that the WhatsApp chats produced by the husband are relevant for establishing the allegation of adultery on the part of wife. Placing reliance upon S.14 of the Family Courts Act, learned counsel submitted that Family Court is competent to take in evidence the material which is relevant for decision of the case even if such evidence is otherwise inadmissible under Indian Evidence Act. He placed reliance upon the decision of Rajasthan High Court in the case of Preeti Jain v. Kunal Jain, reported in AIR 2016 Raj. 153, decision of Delhi High Court in the case of Deepti Kapur v. Kunal Julka reported in AIR 2020 Del. 156 and Punjab and Haryana High Court in X v. Y., reported in 2023:PHHC:165262 - DB.

8. Heard the arguments of both the sides and perused the record.

9. The validity of impugned order is required to be tested on the anvil of principles of admissibility of evidence keeping in view the statement of objects