Watching Porn Is Not Illegal So Long As It Is Done Privately: Kerala High Court

New Delhi: Watching pornographic photographs or videos in one’s private time without showing it to others is not an offence under the law as it is a matter of personal choice, the Kerala High Court has held. The high court said that declaring such an act as an offence would amount to intrusion of a person’s privacy and interference with his personal choice, PTI reported.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan gave the ruling while quashing a case of obscenity under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code in a 2016 case against a 33-year-old man who was caught by police while watching porn videos on his mobile phone on the roadside near the Aluva Palace in Kerala. The order and ruling came on the accused person’s plea to quash the FIR and the court proceedings against him in connection with that. The court said pornography was in practice for centuries and the new digital age has made it more accessible, even to children.

“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, according to PTI.

The court also noted that there was no allegation that the petitioner (accused) publicly exhibited the video.

“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.

Therefore, no offence under Section 292 of the IPC is made out against the accused, the court said and quashed all the proceedings in the magisterial court in connection with the case.

At the same time, Justice Kunhikrishnan also cautioned parents against giving mobile phones with internet access to children to make them happy. “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. If minor children end up watching porn videos, which are now accessible in all mobile phones, “there will be far-reaching consequences,” he added.