NEW DELHI: The Madras high court has allowed a mother to use WhatsApp chats and screenshots as evidence in a guardianship case. The chats allegedly show the father using drugs, talking to a suspected drug supplier, and having an extramarital affair. The court, in its order dated July 9, said this material cannot be excluded from the case just because of privacy.Why were WhatsApp chats produced in the child custody case?According to the court order, the father had filed a case asking to be made the legal guardian of the couple’s minor child and to get permanent custody. The mother opposed this plea and alleged that he was unfit for custody because he allegedly used drugs and alcohol.She wanted to place five sets of WhatsApp chats and screenshots on record. She said she found these on the father’s phone in 2020, while he was asleep, and took photos of them using her own phone. These allegedly included a chat about buying drugs, a conversation about drug and alcohol use, screenshots of web searches about narcotics, and material pointing to an extramarital relationship.However, the father denied all the allegations and said the messages did not come from his phone. When the mother tried to get these documents marked as evidence in the trial court, the judge there refused to allow it at that stage, citing an earlier High Court ruling on spousal privacy. The mother then approached the High Court asking for permission to place the material on record.What did court rule on WhatsApp chats and child custody?Justice A.D. Maria Clete said the case was not simply a fight between the father’s privacy and the mother wanting to submit evidence. The court said a child’s safety and welfare is also an important public concern.“Material allegedly showing drug use, procurement of narcotic substances, or association with persons involved in such activity may bear directly on parental fitness and the child’s safety, and cannot be excluded merely because it originated in a private communication,” the court noted.However, the court made clear this doesn’t mean everything private can now be used as evidence. It said any material used must be directly connected to the child’s welfare. Anything brought in only to embarrass a person, harm their reputation, or widen the dispute between husband and wife should be kept out.“Judicial use of such material does not strip it of its private character. Privacy can be preserved by confining the material to the custody proceeding, examining it confidentially, protecting unrelated third-party information, preventing publication or collateral use, and insisting on proof of source, authenticity, completeness and context,” the court further noted.The court further added that the father’s counsel first objected on privacy grounds. But he dropped this objection once the court asked whether drug-related allegations could really be treated as a purely private matter in a child custody case. Instead, his objections were limited to whether the messages were genuine and where they actually came from.The judge then clarified that simply allowing these documents to be placed on record does not prove they are true. The mother will still have to prove that the messages came from the father’s phone and that they meet the legal requirements for such evidence. The father will get a chance to cross-examine the mother and raise all his objections.The court said no conclusion should be drawn against the father just because these documents were allowed on record. It also said it had not given any opinion on whether the allegations were true. The mother’s application was allowed, and no costs were ordered.