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Abhinav Sinha   27 July 2016

Charges of adultery

Hello Sir / Madam,

One of my cousin is going through very difficult time. He married a year ago in Bangalore. He had few quarrels with wife over some pity issues and they didnt have quiet a harmonious life. She started behaving very stragely with him (like not having harmonious coversations and always picked up unneccesary arguments to get heated). Finally after 1 month of marriage - she moved to Chennai for work and that too without consulting husband. At the moment she lives in Chennai and he lives in Bangalore. She had mentioned to have 1 close friend who also incidentally took a job in Chennai. He is suspecting that she is having an affair (confirmed by few colleagues to have seen them together) with her close friend and wants to sue both of them on charges of adultery. Please can you suggest what evidence should he start to gather so that he can put his case forward?

Regards,

Abhinav Sinha



Learning

 10 Replies

Sood   28 July 2016

Merely contacting or talking with colleague will not proof adultery.. u have to collect some strong evidence to prove adultert like there s*x chat or kissing photos etc

Vibha   28 July 2016

  1. Evidence of her willful desertion/unwillingness to live with husband can be collected via phone recordings, photographs, social media etc.
  2. Evidence in (1) can be helpful to win divorce on grounds of cruelty/desertion.
  3. Photographs, videos of initimate interactions is irrefutable evidence of adultery. 
  4. Photos and witness statements which prove them spending nights together can be helpful. Phone records showing long conversations can also be helpful. 
  5. The evidence in (4) are great to deny any claims of maintenance made by the wife and also win divorce.
  6. To send the adulterous man behind bars under IPC Sec 497 you will need strong evidence like (3) or admission of adultery by the wife in open court.
  7. In general adultery is extremely difficult to establish in court for criminal cases. Circumstantial evidence suggesting adultery can be useful for getting civil reliefs.
  8. Most preferable situation is for husband wife to reach a mutual agreement and get divorce.

saravanan s (legal advisor)     28 July 2016

take the service of a detective to gather information about her and the person with whom her husband is suspecting of having affair.that will be helpful in case if you want to press adultery charges over her for getting divorce or to file a case against the paramour by your friend u/s 497 adultery

Dr. MPS RAMANI Ph.D.[Tech.] (Scientist/Engineer)     28 July 2016

Under IPC Section 497 there must s*xual intercourse to come under the definition of adultery. Anything short of that will not be adultery. You have to prove it in court with evidence. A woman is not punishable for adultery under this section or any other Act or section.


(Guest)
He is in "difficult times" and he wants to get out of it by putting someone else through difficult times? Best solution is to talk to her frankly and see if she likes her friend more than her husband and if so talk her into mutual consent divorce in an easy n amicable way. If she indeed likes her friend and wants to be with him, she might agree for MCD with little alimony also. I hope he is aware that there are many cases wives can file with much more ease and free of cost if they are instigated. If she is really adulterous, what's the point in continuing relationship? Just move on. MCD is best. Contesting using proofs, hiring detectives etc. is a colossal waste of time and headache.

(Guest)
He is in "difficult times" and he wants to get out of it by putting someone else through difficult times? Best solution is to talk to her frankly and see if she likes her friend more than her husband and if so talk her into mutual consent divorce in an easy n amicable way. If she indeed likes her friend and wants to be with him, she might agree for MCD with little alimony also. I hope he is aware that there are many cases wives can file with much more ease and free of cost if they are instigated. If she is really adulterous, what's the point in continuing relationship? Just move on. MCD is best. Contesting using proofs, hiring detectives etc. is a colossal waste of time and headache.

Pawan S (Advocate)     28 July 2016

Proof of adultery is often hard to come by considering the act's nature of secrecy.

As far as required proof is concerned since adultery by nature is practiced in secret, Courts does not stress on direct proof. If you can prove in the Court that she is living with that Guy in the same house, that will be enough.

Proving adultery usually relies on circumstantial evidence that the party had the intent and opportunity, an allegation usually substantiated by such evidence as hotel receipts, photographic evidence, love letters, diaries, and witnesses.

In order to show that there is no connivance on complainant, you should have spoken to the steps which you took to prevent the accused or your wife from having intercourse with each other from the moment you came to know of the intimacy between the wife and the accused and from the time you began to suspect that the accused was having s*xual intercourse with your wife. If the husband was fully aware of the fact that his wife was committing adultery but did not do anything to stop the same, then the adulterous relationship may be considered to have been committed with acquiescence, and therefore no offence can be said to have been committed. The absence or presence of consent or connivance can be inferred from the circumstances of the case. Strict proof of the same is not necessary.

 

Regards,

Ekta

Augustine Chatterjee,New Delhi (Advocate & Solicitor at Law)     28 July 2016

Ekta ji has answered the query very well

Augustine Chatterjee

Advocate & Solicitor at Law

9999931153

Abhinav Sinha   29 July 2016

Thanks everyone for the response.

Based on my suggestion from the forum, he has spoken to his wife and asked her to refrain from speaking to the adulterer. She is denying the blame saying he is only friend who is helping me to go through disturbed mind and there is nothing else. From the laptop at home, he was able to find hotel booking tickets booked by adulterer. But she refuted it saying she is travelling alone and hence for the initial stay - he helped her in booking hotel. She also mentioned that you are doubting me without any basis. She also said that she married him out of force and pressure from family.

- They dont stay together and that is something we know but adulterer tries to find opportunity to visit the wife.

- After speaking to the colleague who had informed him about both the wife and adulterer being spotted together - he refused to be witnesses as he didnt want to be dragged in court cases.

- As detective service is not yet employed - video evidence is not yet available. We are looking into feasibility of this aspect or if he can go to Chennai for few days to gather photographic evidence.

Considering that the only evidence available is the hotel bookings can something be done? As far as I know, telephone operators wouldnt entertain giving call details through request. If evidence on call details / wattsapp chat be accumulated covertly - can something be done? Also is it within legal framework to get this data without their consent? We dont want wife to file some reverse cases and the matter to backfire.

I have also suggested him to speaking with her and clearing the facts and requesting her to come back and if nothing works out - to set expectations for MCD.

Regards,

Abhinav

 

Pawan S (Advocate)     29 July 2016

If evidence on call details / wattsapp chat be accumulated covertly - can something be done?

The whatsapp messages are not saved anywhere (either on whatsapp servers or by the ISP or by anyone else) and also presuming that such messages can be tempered with by the user, in that case their evidential value will be reduced greatly and it can be proved by the concerned party to a litigation that such conversation was tampered with.

So, It cannot/may not be treated as evidence in this case.

 

 

 

Also is it within legal framework to get this data without their consent?

Yes. How adultery can be proved without organizing a sting operation? Sting operation should be performed without the wife’s consent to know the verity.

If such act is illegal, then I think catching someone in adultery is next to impossible.

 

 

 

We dont want wife to file some reverse cases and the matter to backfire.

Definitely it will backfire. Wife generally raises allegations like 498A, 125, DV Act against the husband in these sort of event.


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