Watching porn in private not a criminal offence, says Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court while quashing a criminal case against a man for watching porn while standing on the roadside stated that it does not attract offense as he did not exhibit the video publicly.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court quashed the criminal charges filed against a man who was arrested by the police on the side of the road for watching porn on his phone. He was arrested in July 2016 near Aluva municipality.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan stated that "privately" watching obscene photos or videos on one’s phone without distributing or publicly exhibiting them will not attract the offence of obscenity under IPC. It added that watching such content is a person’s private choice and the Court cannot intrude into his privacy, as reported by Live Law.

The prosecution does not claim that the petitioner publicly exhibited the video, the court stated, citing case specifics.

“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 IPC. Similarly, watching of an obscene video by a person from a mobile phone in his privacy is also not an offence under section 292 IPC,” the judge ruled. 

“If the accused is trying to circulate or distribute or publicly exhibits any obscene videos or photos, then alone the offence under section 292 IPC is attracted.”

The Court noted in the opening line that having private, sexual relations is not illegal in our nation. The Court ruled that because these activities fall under societal norms and legislative authority, it is not necessary to recognise consensual sex or private pornographic film viewing.

The accused's criminal case was dismissed by the court. However, the judge advised against letting kids use unsupervised mobile devices with internet connection.