New Delhi: The Gujarat high court has said that mere photographs cannot prove adultery in court and that cogent evidence is needed.

Times of India has reported that a man produced photographs of his wife to claim that she was in an adulterous relationship to prove that she was not entitled to maintenance.

The court had earlier ordered the husband to pay her Rs 30,000 every month, after the woman had moved court for interim maintenance for her and their children.

The husband challenged the order, alleging that his wife was leading "an adulterous life" and that he did not have the income to pay such a maintenance.

Justice Umesh Trivedi said in a November 28 order that the "production of mere photographs, that too, before this court will not suffice to assert that she leads [an] adulterous life, and therefore, she is not entitled for maintenance."

The court also dismissed the husband's challenge to the maintenance order.

In 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code which dealt with adultery was "unconstitutional," and struck it down.

“There cannot be a shadow of doubt that it (adultery) is a ground for divorce but it can’t be a crime,” then CJI Misra had said, adding, “It is time to say the husband is not the master."

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