Ok, so WhatsApp is like a major part of how people in India communicate, and we all use this popular messaging app, right? But because so many people are using it for both personal and professional chats, one important question arises: do WhatsApp’s chat messages hold any legal ground in Indian courts? Well, the short and sweet answer to that is Yes, in some cases, we have seen that WhatsApp messages can be presented in court to make a point or something like that. But it is not as simple as you think, there are a lot of things to consider, and that’s pretty much the reason why we are diving deep. Here we go.
Legal Framework Governing Electronic Evidence in India
Since the WhatsApp message is like electronic evidence, that’s the reason why the legal framework in India that governs electronic evidence includes the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 and the Information Technology Act of 2000. If you want us to be precise about that, well, it is Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act which is mainly the one that covers electronic records, such as WhatsApp messages, in a court of law.
Just so you know though, as quoted in Section 2(1)(t) of the Information Technology Act, “electronic records” denote any type of electronic data, image, or sound, including WhatsApp messages, that may have been stored or sent. And sure, the law recognizes such records as “documents.”
But keep in mind that these provisions considered the electronic evidence as the “secondary” one unless the original device (being a phone or computer) was entered in the court. In a more straightforward way, the idea is that if the original device, from where the messages were sent or received, isn’t presented, the chats on a user’s phone will need to be given as evidence of secondary importance, you know?
Conditions for Admissibility of WhatsApp Chats in Indian Courts
In order for WhatsApp chats to be used in court, compliance with some specific legal requirements is essential, like what though? Well, the most important requirement relates to the provision of a Section 65B certificate, for this is a must for any electronic evidence to qualify for admissibility. This was made clear by the Supreme Court in several cases among which was the Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (2020).
All in all, Section 65B advocates the authenticity of the electronic record. It should contain how the record is produced, a statement that the data is preserved unchangingly, and actual details about the device generating the record. The signature of a person employed in the operation of the device to which the data is related would be necessary as a certificate so that it is established that it is real evidence and could be relied upon, you know?
Let’s look at the example from the year 2021, in which the substance abuse case against Aryan Khan, who is the son of superstar Shahrukh Khan, was one of the significant drug cases. With this case, his defense actually went on to challenge the admissibility of the WhatsApp chats because they didn’t have the Section 65B certificate. And just so you know, without this Section 65B certificate, these WhatsApp chats can easily be dismissed in court and can’t hold any significant value in the case.
