Kerala High Court: The Kerala High Court has ruled that viewing pornographic images or films privately, without displaying them to others, is not illegal because it is a matter of personal preference. According to the supreme court, making such an act illegal would violate a person’s privacy and interfere with his freedom of choice. The decision was made by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan in the context of dismissing an obscenity complaint brought under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code against a 33-year-old man who was detained by police in 2016 while using his phone to watch pornographic films on the side of the road close to the Aluva palace.
Watching Porn Privately and the Court’s Decision
The accused person’s request to have the FIR and related court proceedings against him dismissed led to the order and decision. According to the court, pornography has been used for decades and has become more accessible in the modern digital age, even to kids. “The question to be decided in this case is whether a person watching a porn video in his private time without exhibiting it to others amounts to an offence? A court of law cannot declare that the same amounts to an offence for the simple reason that it is his private choice and interference with the same amounts to an intrusion of his privacy,” it said.
Private Porn Viewing Not a Crime
The petitioner (the accused) was not allegedly accused of showing the film in public, the court added. “I am of the considered opinion that watching an obscene photo by a person in his privacy by itself is not an offence under Section 292 (obscenity) of IPC. Similarly, watching an obscene video by a person from a mobile phone in his privacy is also not an offence under Section 292 IPC. If the accused is trying to circulate or distribute or publicly exhibit any obscene video or photos, then the offence under Section 292 IPC is attracted,” Justice Kunhikrishnan said. The court ruled that no violation of Section 292 of the IPC was established against the accused as a result, and all related proceedings in the magisterial court were halted. In addition, Justice Kunhikrishnan advised parents against providing children with mobile devices with internet access in an effort to make them happy.
Protecting Children from Harmful Content
“The parents should be aware of the danger behind it. Let the children watch informative news and videos from the mobile phones of their parents in their presence. Parents should never hand over mobile phones to minor children to make them happy and thereafter complete their daily routine works in their house allowing unsupervised use of mobile phones by children,” the judge said.According to Justice Kunhikrishnan, “there will be far-reaching consequences” if young children watch pornographic videos, which are now available on all mobile devices. “Let the children play cricket or football or other games they like during their leisure time. That is necessary for a healthy young generation who are to become the beacons of hope of our nation in the future. Instead of purchasing food from restaurants through ‘swiggy’ and ‘zomato’, let the children taste the delicious food made by their mother and let the children play at playgrounds and come back home to the mesmerising smell of their mother’s food. I leave it there to the wisdom of the parents of minor children of this society,” the judge said.
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