WhatsApp Chats Showing Mental Cruelty Cannot Be Ignored Merely For Non-Compliance With Evidence Act: Chhattisgarh High Court Grants Divorce
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that unchallenged WhatsApp messages produced by a wife, which disclosed conduct falling within the ambit of mental cruelty, could not be brushed aside merely because the strict evidentiary requirements were not met.
The Court observed that though the wife had not complied with the provisions of the Evidence Act in respect of the WhatsApp chats, the Family Court was not fettered by the strict rules of relevancy and admissibility in the same manner as an ordinary civil court.
A division bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu and Justice Sushma Sawant was hearing an appeal filed challenging the Family Court's judgment rejecting her application for divorce on the ground of cruelty. The parties had married on December 5, 2021, and, according to the wife, after residing together for about a month, the husband started abusing and assaulting her.
It was also alleged that the husband sent text messages containing filthy abuses to her and her two sisters. She had also alleged a demand for an air-conditioner as dowry. The Family Court rejected the wife's application for divorce, finding that cruelty had not been proved.
The Court held that the WhatsApp chats Exs.P.2 & Ex.P.3 produced on record concerning the family members, viewed in their proper perspective, clearly disclose conduct falling within the ambit of mental cruelty.
“Although the learned Family Court has discarded the said WhatsApp chats on the ground that there is no evidence establishing the identity of the holder of the mobile phone and that the chats are incomplete, it is significant that the husband has not specifically denied or controverted the contents thereof,” the Court observed.
Hence, the Court held that the said material cannot be altogether brushed aside or ignored.
Referring to Section 14 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, the Court observed that a Family Court is entitled to receive as evidence any report, statement, document, information or matter which, in its opinion, may assist it to deal effectually with a dispute, irrespective of whether the same would otherwise be relevant or admissible under the Indian Evidence Act.
“Though the appellant has not complied with the provisions of the Evidence Act in respect of the WhatsApp chats, however, the Family Court is not fettered by the strict rules of relevancy and admissibility in the same manner as an ordinary civil court. Section 14 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, confers a wider discretion upon the Family Court to receive such material as, in its opinion, may assist it in effectively adjudicating the dispute,” the Court remarked.
The Court further emphasized that the documents reflected the mindset of the husband and indicated that he did not hold a respectful or appropriate view even towards his sisters-in-law, observing that such conduct, particularly when directed towards the wife's family members, would cause deep mental anguish and constitute grave mental cruelty to a wife.
The Court accordingly held that the Family Court's judgment and decree suffered from errors in appreciation of the material on record warranting interference. It allowed the appeal, set aside the Family Court's judgment and granted the wife a decree of divorce.
Case Title: Archana Singh v. Anand Kumar [FA(MAT) No. 189 of 2024]