Watching Porn in Private is No Offence, says Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has ruled that viewing pornography photos or videos privately, without sharing them with others, is not considered an obscenity offense under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code.

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The court emphasized that deeming this act as an offense would infringe upon an individual’s privacy and interfere with their personal choices, according to a report by PTI.

The High Court issued this ruling in response to a case involving a man who had been arrested in July 2016 near the Aluva municipality by Kerala police. He was arrested for watching explicit videos on his mobile phone while standing beside a road. The accused had filed a petition with the High Court, seeking to have the criminal proceedings against him under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code quashed.

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Statement from Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan

“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,” The statement from Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan’s order was cited by PTI.

Furthermore, the court observed that there was no accusation that the petitioner (the accused) had publicly displayed the video, as stated by the court.

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Justice Kunhikrishnan said “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,”.

Hence, the court declared that no offense under Section 292 of the IPC was established against the accused, and it subsequently dismissed all proceedings related to the case in the magisterial court.

The court also issued a warning to parents about providing mobile phones with internet access to their children solely to appease them.

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“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.

Justice Kunhikrishnan said, If minor children end up watching porn videos, which are now accessible in all mobile phones, “there will be far reaching consequences”.

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