Cannot prove spouse's affair with private medical records, says HC

The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court has said that the illicit relationship of a spouse cannot be proved by securing his/her private medical records. The court made the observation while setting aside the order of a family court summoning medical records in a divorce case.

The proceedings for the dissolution of marriage was filed by the husband before the family court while the wife had initiated proceedings for maintenance. The man had contended that his wife was having an illicit relationship and there was clear evidence that she became pregnant. It was argued that the documents sought from the hospital were necessary to establish the contention. The trial court allowed the application mainly on the grounds that there was no question of the hospital authorities maintaining secrecy in respect of the medical records of spouses.

Challenging this order, the wife contended that the medical records of a person are absolutely private to the person concerned and the same cannot be summoned by anyone, including the husband. It was also argued that summoning the medical records and asking the doctor to adduce evidence is essentially forcing the doctor to violate the oath of secrecy to the patient.

Justice N S Sanjay Gowda noted that the power to direct a medical practitioner to act in violation of his/her declaration should be exercised only for strong and compelling reasons and would more or less be exercised only when an element of public interest is involved. "In fact, if this approach is to be accepted, it will amount to the destruction of the entire concept of doctor-and-patient confidentiality and also drag the doctor into a marital dispute," the court said.

On the facts of the case, the court noted that the husband had sought divorce on the grounds that the wife had treated him with cruelty and deserted him for a continuous period of two years. “If it is the case of the husband that his wife, by leading an adulterous life, had inflicted cruelty on him, this allegation will have to be proved with cogent evidence in a manner known to law. This allegation cannot be proved by summoning the private medical records of the wife,” the court said.

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