AI-Generated Evidence In Matrimonial Disputes: Deepfake Videos As 'Proof' Of Infidelity Or Abuse
- IJLLR Journal
- Aug 8
- 1 min read
Ishika, School of Legal Studies, Babu Banarasi Das University
ABSTRACT
Matrimonial disputes in India rely on an evidentiary framework built to answer where a digital record came from, not whether its content is true. Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, carried forward as Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, requires only a certificate confirming the device and its proper functioning. This distinction has turned critical with the arrival of generative video and audio tools, since a deepfake can clear every certification requirement while showing an event that never happened. Family courts face particular exposure here, because claims of infidelity and abuse are already hard to establish through conventional evidence, and this difficulty gives a determined spouse strong reason to fabricate convincing footage. Incidents already reported from the United States and Poland show fabricated recordings submitted in custody and divorce matters, in one case leading to a no-contact order before forensic analysis proved the recording synthetic. A related danger, described in scholarship as the liar's dividend, lets a party confronted with genuine incriminating footage simply call it fake, pushing the burden of proof onto whichever side cannot afford forensic verification. This paper traces that gap between admissibility and truth, and argues that routine forensic scrutiny and judicial training are needed to close it.
Keywords: deepfake evidence; matrimonial disputes; electronic evidence admissibility; Section 65B, Indian Evidence Act; Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023; digital forensics; liar's dividend; family courts; synthetic media; custody and divorce litigation.
