Destruction of Electronic Evidence

So, papa's case came up in office lunch discussions again. He said, judges are tough, can't be impressed with anything. But I still want to know, what if the accused just deletes WhatsApp chats? Will that save them? A businessman deletes WhatsApp chats after a transaction goes sour. The plaintiff sues him for cheating. But the accused claims, he didn't delete them, WhatsApp auto-deleted them after 30 days. Plaintiff says, it's a common practice to take screenshots for such deals and the accused just wanted to cover his tracks. What legal remedy applies if we can prove the accused intentionally deleted the evidence?