Ramandeep Kaur vs Harsh Oberoi And Ors
- Court
- Delhi High Court
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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
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Judgment pronounced on: 01.07.2026
CONT.CAS(C) 336/2024
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RAMANDEEP KAUR .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Rubinder Ghuman, Ms. Anu
Mehta, Mr. Rajat Tyagi, Ms. Adya
Nanda, Advocates.
versus
HARSH OBEROI AND ORS. ....Respondents
Through: Mr. Mohit Mathur, Sr. Advocate
along with Mr. Aditya Sharda,
Advocate for R-2 and R-3 (in person).
Mr. Jatan Singh, Sr. Advocate along
with Mr. Siddharth Singh, Ms.
Vanishka Adhana, Mr. Jashank
Srivastav and Mr. Kartikeya Basoya,
Advocates.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA
JUDGMENT
1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking initiation
of contempt proceedings for breach of the judgment/order dated 11.06.2015
passed by this Court in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No. 78/2015. The said
judgment/order, inter alia , holds as under:
30. Having now come across a number of cases of matrimonial and custody
disputes, in the civil and criminal jurisdictions, the Court notes with concern that
there a growing trend among parties and their lawyers to readily disclose in the
petitions, in the form of pleadings and documents, the most private and personal
details of their clients and of the opposite parties, without a thought for the privacy
implications, or even embarrassment potential, that it has. All too often no attempt
is made to first seek the leave of the Court to tender the documents, be it in the
form of private letters, notings, photographs, electronic evidence including video
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
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clips, text messages, chat details, emails, CCTV footage etc. the contents of which
are of a private and personal nature. The Court has to consider if such documents
are relevant to the case and how they should be presented, preserved and provided
to the parties.
31. The Court considers it appropriate to issue the following directions to the
Family Courts in Delhi, the parties and the lawyers, to be followed hereafter in the
cases pending in those Courts:
(i) Where a party in a case seeks to rely upon a document which in his
or her assessment or the assessment of the party’s lawyer is of a sensitive
nature, viz., which contains details of a personal or private nature
concerning a party or a person or their conduct, which when disclosed is
likely to affect the right to privacy, or cause embarrassment, then such
party and/or the lawyer of such party will first apply to the Court seeking
leave to produce such document in a sealed cover. Till such time that
leave is granted the contents of the said document shall not be extracted in
the pleadings or a copy of the whole or part thereof enclosed with the
petition. For this purpose a document would include any writing, private
letters, notings, photographs, and documents in electronic form including
video clips, text messages, chat details, emails, printed copies thereof,
CCTV footage etc.
(ii) Where upon a party applying under (i) above, or where any other
party, or the Family Court on its own, comes across a document on record
in the case which is prima facie of a sensitive nature, viz., which contains
details of a personal or private nature concerning a party or a person or
their conduct which when disclosed is likely to affect the right to privacy,
or cause embarrassment, the Family Court will pass appropriate orders
concerning the said document including providing copies thereof to the
parties, preserving the originals or copies as the case may be in a sealed
cover, de-sealing for being produced during Court proceedings and re-
sealing after the purpose for which they are directed to be produced is
over.
(iii) The Family Court will also bind down by specific directions, the
parties and their respective lawyers, and the Court staff regarding the
making of copies, use, preservation and dissemination of such document
with a view to maintaining its confidentiality. The Family Court can also
pass necessary directions to specify the conditions upon which access
would be permitted to such document by third parties.
(iv) The Family Court will endeavour to decide on the issues at (i) (ii)
and (iii) above, without unnecessary delay, in accordance with law. The
above directions are in the nature of broad guidelines and can be suitably
modified and adapted/ applied to a given situation by the Family Court.
The Family court will, however, at all times keep in view the requirements
of protecting the rights to privacy and dignity of the parties and persons.
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43
(v) The Family Court should as far as possible and practicable invoke
the power under Section 11 of the Family Courts Act 1984 and hold the
proceedings in camera. Where the circumstances so warrant, the Family
Court may in the orders uploaded on the website or made available
otherwise, suitably anonymize the names of the parties.
32. Unless there is a specific order of the Family Court, or where the party thinks
it to be absolutely essential, or where suitable alternative arrangements are unable
to made, parties should avoid bringing children to the Family Court on a routine
basis. Lawyers should also advise their clients in this regard since repeated visits
to Courts to witness the legal contests between and among parents and relatives is
not desirable or conducive for the healthy development of children.
33. The above direction shall also apply, as far as possible, hereafter to appeals or
further proceedings in this Court emanating from the orders of the Family Court.
34. As far as the present appeal is concerned, in light of what has been discussed
in the judgment, and in the facts of this case, and with a view to respecting the
right to privacy of not only the parties but in the best interests of the child, the
Court has decided that the names of the parties as appearing in the cause title
should be anonymized. The Registry is directed to remove the entire Annexure P-
18 from all the paper books (including those of the judges) and place one copy in a
separate sealed cover which will be kept with the Registrar. The other copies shall
be weeded out by shredding. The contents of the sealed cover will be allowed to be
inspected only upon specific prior permission being sought from the Court.
Likewise, the Appellant and his lawyers are directed not to disseminate or publish
in any manner or make public the contents of Annexure P-18 to the present appeal
hereafter.
35. The appeal and the application are dismissed in the above terms. A copy of
this judgment be sent to the Family Court concerned.
36. A copy of this judgment be sent to each of the Judges in Charge of the Family
Courts in Delhi, the District Judges of each District, the Bar Council of Delhi and
each of the Bar Association in the District Courts and the High Court for
compliance and observance of the directions issued in paras 31 to 33 of the
judgment.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND:
2. The grievance of the petitioner, putting briefly, is that the respondents
while filing pleadings in a matrimonial matter, annexed certain photographs
of the petitioner of the most intimate kind and placed them on record of the
Family Court. This, it is alleged, violates the directions contained in the
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43
aforesaid judgment/order dated 11.06.2015 passed in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No.
78/2015.
3. The respondent no.1 is the estranged husband of the petitioner. The
respondent no(s). 2 and 3 herein are the advocates who, at the material time,
had represented respondent no. 1 in the said proceedings.
4. The marriage between the petitioner and the respondent no. 1 was
solemnized on 05.02.2022. It is not in dispute that the relationship soured
soon thereafter, and on 08.08.2023, the petitioner, alleging cruelty and
harassment at the hands of the respondent no.1 and his family members,
instituted a complaint under the Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act) bearing M.C. No. 556/2023.
5. Subsequently, on 23.08.2023, the respondent no.1 instituted HMA
Petition No. 2578/2023 before the Family Court, Tis Hazari Courts, seeking
dissolution of marriage. In that petition, filed through respondent nos.2 and
3, photographs depicting the private anatomy of the petitioner, purportedly,
forming the part of a whatsapp communication between the respondent no.1
and the petitioner’s doctor, were annexed at pages 105-115.
6. Crucially, these photographs were placed on record without redaction
and without the protection of a sealed cover. Notice of Motion of the
aforesaid Divorce petition was issued by the learned Principle Judge, Family
Court vide order dated 26.08.2023. It was upon perusing the petition that the
petitioner discovered the offending annexures. Thereafter, the petitioner
moved an application under Sections 18 and 23 of the DV Act, praying for
directions restraining the respondents therein from distributing/circulating
the objectionable material which violates the petitioner’s right to privacy.
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43
7. Vide order dated 15.01.2024, the said application was dismissed, inter
alia , on the ground that the petitioner had failed to demonstrate as to how
the act of annexing the offending document/s fell within the sweep of
Section 18 of the DV Act.
8. It is in the above background that the present contempt petition has
been filed by the petitioner contending that by filing her intimate
photographs in the manner as aforesaid, the respondents have flouted the
directions issued by this Court in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No. 78/2015.
9. The respondents in their reply have sought to contend that the
directions contained in the judgment/order dated 11.06.2015 were general in
nature, not passed in proceedings between the present parties and that the
said directions inadvertently escaped the notice of the respondents. On this
footing, it is contended that there was no wilful disobedience.
10. The respondents have also tendered an unconditional apology stating
as under:
“It is further submitted that in case the directions as contained in the
order/judgment dated 11.06.2015 passed in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No.
78/2015 were in the knowledge of the respondents, the answering
respondents would have taken due care to comply with such directions
and the respondents are also tendering unconditional apology in case the
act of filing certain photographs is considered as violation of the general
directions issued in some other case that too around 8-9 years back, the
present petition is thus liable to be dismissed on this ground also.”
11. I have carefully considered the rival contentions of the parties.
12. At the outset, it is noticed that the directions rendered in the
judgment/order dated 11.06.2015 passed in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No. 78/2015
(of which willful disobedience is alleged), were not issued in proceedings
involving the present parties. It is evident from a perusal of the said
judgment that it contains general directions. It has been categorically stated
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Signing Date:01.07.2026
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by the respondents that the said directions were not to the knowledge of the
respondents. There is no material for this Court to hold that the respondents
wilfully flouted the said directions, despite being aware of them.
13. No doubt, filing of the offending photographs was a significant lapse
on the part of the respondents. Importantly, however, when being confronted
with the same, the respondents did not seek to justify the same. Apart from
tendering an unconditional apology in these proceedings and also during the
course of hearing, it transpires that the respondents have filed an application
before the learned Family Court seeking that the offending
documents/photographs be placed in a sealed cover. It has been prayed as
under:
14. Since the respondents have sought to purge the lapse both by
tendering an unconditional apology and by undertaking remedial measures,
this Court is not inclined to take any action against the respondents under the
Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
15. However, while absolving the respondents from ‘contempt’, this
Court expresses its strong disapproval for the act complained of viz . the
filing of intimate photographs and documents as annexures to a divorce
petition. The act of placing on record the aforementioned photographs of the
petitioner, was a grave lapse.
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43
16. Even assuming, without this Court expressing any opinion thereon,
that the photographs in question bear conceivable relevance to the
matrimonial dispute, the most elementary sensitivity apart from the
directions contained in MAT.APP.(F.C.) No. 78/2015, demanded that such
material, if at all, be filed in a sealed cover, suitably redacted and only with
the leave of the Court.
17. The respondent no(s). 2 and 3 being advocates responsible for filing
the concerned pleadings and the objectionable documents, are clearly
responsible for this lapse. While their unconditional apology has been
accepted, this Court cautions them to exercise greater circumspection in
future.
18. The zeal to advance a client’s cause in a matrimonial litigation can
never justify the sacrifice of the dignity of the opposite party, least of all
where the opposite party is a woman and the material in question is of such
intimate character.
19. This Court also notices that the petitioner, in her rejoinder, has placed
on record certain photographs and videos of respondent no. 1 to portray his
conduct and character in an unfavourable light. While the gravity of the two
sets of material is not comparable, the larger principle applies viz .
matrimonial litigations must not be allowed to degenerate into contests of
mutual humiliations through weaponisation of private images and intimate
material.
20. Considering the circumstances, this Court, while accepting the
unconditional apology tendered by the respondents, grants liberty to the
petitioner to move appropriate application before the Family Court seeking
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
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masking and anonymization of her identity and protection of the offending
material.
21. Learned Family Court is requested to consider and pass appropriate
order/s to secure confidentiality of the proceedings and in particular :-
(i) Remove the photographs/documents appearing at page no. 105-
115 of the Divorce Petition (HMA Petition No.2578/2023) together
with every copy thereof on record, whether in physical or in any
electronic form, from the open record and place them in sealed
cover, to be opened only under Court orders and only to the extent
necessary for adjudication;
(ii) Substitute name of the petitioner in cause title and the orders
passed, with her initials and mask such particulars likely to disclose
her identity;
(iii) Restrict access to electronic records containing such material
and ensure that no certified copy thereof is issued except under
express orders of this Court.
22. The respondents are restrained from publishing/ circulating/
reproducing/ uploading or otherwise forwarding, using or sharing the said
documents/photographs in any form and through any medium whatsoever.
23. The Registry of this Court is directed to reflect the petitioner by her
initials in this judgment and mask any particulars likely to disclose her
identity before the judgment is released/uploaded/reported in any manner.
24. It is made clear that this judgment shall not be considered as an
expression of opinion of this Court upon merits of any proceedings pending
between the parties, including the relevance or admissibility of the offending
documents/photographs.
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Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43
25. The petition stands disposed of in the above terms.
SACHIN DATTA, J
JULY 1, 2026/ at/ss
Signature Not Verified
CONT.CAS(C) 336/2024 Page 9 of 9
Digitally Signed
By:ABHISHEK THAKUR
Signing Date:01.07.2026
19:15:43