"In Era Of Deepfakes...": Court Rejects Husband's Claim Of Adultery Based On Photos

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a man's attempt to avoid paying maintenance to his estranged wife by alleging she was living in adultery, based on photographs he presented as evidence.

The court, noting the era of "deepfakes," ruled that such photographs need to be substantiated with proper evidence before the family court.

A division bench of Justices Rajeev Shakdher and Amit Bansal examined the photographs and concluded that it was not clear if the woman in the images was indeed the wife.

The court stated: "We have looked at the photographs. It is not clear as to whether the respondent/wife is the person in the photographs, as alluded to by the learned counsel for the appellant/husband. We may take judicial notice of the fact that we are living in the era of deepfakes and, therefore, this is an aspect that the appellant/husband, perhaps, would have to prove by way of evidence before the family court."

It granted both parties the opportunity to present their evidence in the ongoing divorce proceedings in the family court.

The husband had appealed against a family court order mandating him to pay Rs 75,000 per month as cumulative maintenance to his wife and daughter. The wife, a post-graduate in Mass Communication, was living with her parents and unemployed since the separation.

The high court observed that the allegation of adultery was not previously raised in the family court. Even if it had been raised but ignored, the husband should have sought a review, which he did not, and thus, the adultery claim seemed like a "measure of desperation to wriggle out of the obligation" imposed by the family court.

Consequently, the high court dismissed the husband's appeal, upholding the family court's maintenance order.

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