Does An Act Of A Couple Sitting In A Park Amounts To Obscenity?

DOES AN ACT OF A COUPLE SITTING IN A PARK AMOUNTS TO OBSCENITY?

Obscenity is defined under Section 294 of The Indian Penal Code and states:

Whoever, to the annoyance of others—

(a) does any obscene act in any public place, or

(b) sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.

The object of Section 294 of IPC is to prevent any harm to the morals of the society and to upkeep the sanctity of public decency. Any act which is offensive to the morals of the society and public decency is an obscene act and in the interest of the society at large, such acts are to be discouraged and punished.

Section 67 of The Information and Technology Act states punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form and whoever publishes or transmits such obscene material shall be punished. The offence of obscenity is cognizable, however, a bailable offence.

The question has arisen number of times before the Courts for testing an act to be obscene or not. In the case of Ranjit D. Udeshi, the court held that the work of art and literature should not be judged and considered as obscene only on the criteria of sex and nudity. The work of the artist must be considered as a whole and balance should be maintained between freedom of speech and public decency and morality. In case, the public decency or morality is transgressed by freedom of speech, then freedom of speech has to go so as to upkeep public decency and morality in the society.

The Fundamental Right as provided in Article 19 of our Constitution in respect to freedom of speech and expression is not an absolute right and is subject to reasonable restrictions to upkeep the public decency and morality in the society. Hence, all citizens of India should have a sense of responsibility towards the society and abstain from any act which is against public decency or morality.

The above information is to impart awareness and no part of this should be construed as providing legal advice for any purpose.

Vikram Kumar

Advocate

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