The Bombay High Court recently observed that a decree of divorce cannot be granted solely on the basis of WhatsApp chat messages produced by one party without giving the other side an opportunity to challenge the material and present their own evidence.

The Court made the observation while setting aside an ex parte divorce decree passed by a family court in Nashik.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande was hearing an appeal filed by a wife against an order of the Nashik family court that had granted an ex parte divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The family court had accepted the husband’s allegations of cruelty solely on the basis of WhatsApp and SMS chats submitted by him, without affording the wife any opportunity to contest or rebut the material placed on record.

Relying on these messages, the family court had concluded that the communications amounted to serious mental cruelty towards the husband and proceeded to grant a decree of divorce.

The family court had held that the alleged pressure tactics, emotional blackmail, and intemperate language in the messages made it impossible for the husband to continue living with his wife, concluding that he was entitled to a decree of divorce.

However, the Bombay High Court disagreed with this approach, observing that the decision had been rendered without a proper adversarial process. The Bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande noted that the wife had not been given an opportunity to rebut the evidence relied upon by the husband.

“There was no opportunity given to rebut the said evidence by the wife,” the Court observed.

The High Court further emphasised that electronic communications such as WhatsApp chats cannot, by themselves, form the sole basis for granting a divorce unless they are properly proved during trial.

“Merely relying on the WhatsApp Chat, the divorce decree cannot be granted, since it is not proved by leading evidence,” the Bench categorically held.

Accordingly, the High Court set aside the divorce decree passed by the Nashik family court and remanded the matter for fresh consideration, granting the wife liberty to lead evidence in the proceedings.

The Court also recorded that both parties are free to explore the possibility of settlement through mediation before the family court, as suggested by the husband’s counsel.

Advocate Shubham S. Sane appeared for the wife, while Advocates Sanjay P. Shinde and Prathmesh T. Bhanuwanshe represented the husband.