Right balance

‘ow wide should the ambit of the right to privacy, deemed as a fundamental right in India, be? This is the question that arises after a recent judgment by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

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In a petition filed by a woman challenging a family court order that allowed her estranged husband to exhibit illegally procured private chats as evidence in an ongoing divorce case, the high court upheld the family court’s decision, ruling that in a conflict between two rights guaranteed under Article 21— the right to privacy and the right to a fair trial — the latter must prevail if justice is at stake. The tension between these two legal stipulations would appear instructive on the perusal of their specific histories and intent.