The Bombay High Court has ruled that a marriage cannot be legally dissolved merely on the basis of WhatsApp conversations produced by one spouse, emphasizing that such digital exchanges must be properly proved and tested through a fair trial.
The court set aside an ex-parte divorce granted by a family court in Nashik after finding that the decision rested almost entirely on WhatsApp and SMS messages submitted by the husband. The wife, the court noted, had never been given a meaningful opportunity to challenge or respond to the material.
A bench comprising Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande examined the case while hearing the wife’s appeal against the decree granted under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The Nashik family court had treated the messages as proof of mental cruelty. It concluded that the tone and content of the chats—described as emotionally charged and confrontational—made it impossible for the husband to continue living with his wife, thereby entitling him to a divorce.
The High Court, however, found the process deeply flawed.
According to the bench, the case never truly entered the stage of a contested trial. The wife was not given the chance to question the authenticity of the messages, challenge their interpretation, or present her own evidence. Without such procedural safeguards, the judges said, relying solely on chat transcripts was untenable.
The court made it clear that electronic communications—whether WhatsApp messages or texts—cannot independently sustain a divorce decree unless they are properly proved through evidence and tested in court.
Finding that the earlier ruling lacked a proper evidentiary foundation, the High Court quashed the divorce order and sent the matter back to the Nashik family court for a fresh hearing.
The wife has now been granted the opportunity to present her evidence and contest the claims. The court also indicated that the parties remain free to attempt an amicable resolution through mediation during the renewed proceedings.
