High Court Orders Preservation of Mobile Data in Matrimonial Dispute

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has instructed the preservation of mobile data in a matrimonial dispute, reversing an earlier trial court decision against the husband's request. Justice Alok Jain emphasized the necessity of maintaining the call detail records (CDRs) and tower location data of the complainant, her parents, and two suspected mediators involved in Panchayat talks.

The responsibility to confirm data accessibility and store it with a certificate under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act—recently updated to Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023—has been assigned to the Magistrate. Crucially, the Court specified that the data should remain sealed and undisclosed to either party at this stage to protect privacy.

The husband's petition, which instigated the order, arose from charges including Sections 323, 406, 498-A, and 506 of the IPC. As his wife left the matrimonial home in August 2023 and filed a police report nearly a year later, the husband contended that the delay was unjustified and that alleged Panchayat meetings to explain this delay were fictitious. He argued that mobile records from August 2023 to July 2024 could shed light on the true sequence of events.

While the trial court dismissed this as a "roving inquiry," the High Court adopted a more nuanced approach. It acknowledged the urgency of data preservation before telecom data was potentially deleted but also emphasized the importance of safeguarding the privacy of the involved parties by ensuring the data remains sealed until appropriately required in the trial process. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)