Obscene material according to the IT act is “lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt”. Section 67 of the IT act makes it illegal to publish or transmit “obscene material” in electronic form. It is to be noted that if a person privately watches a porn video and thereafter shares it or stores it, then it’s an offence under Indian Laws. So if you are not watching child pornography or porn which shows violence against women then you are in a safe spot. Secondly, the main reason as specified by the government behind banning porn in India was to put an end to child pornography and pornography which depicted violence against women. So if an adult citizen finds a way to access porn websites by using tools like VPS then it is the service provider who is at fault and not the adult citizen.
Firstly the onus of implementing the porn ban is on the Internet Service providers. So the question again arose that if porn is banned in India then how watching it privately is legal?
On the same ground, the government banned pornographic content in India in 2015 which was unsuccessful, and again in the year 2018. ‘Morality and decency’ is a ground under which the exercise of the fundamental right of a person can be restricted. Every right comes with reasonable restrictions. None of the Fundamental Rights in India is absolute in nature. However, watching or storing pornographic content which depicts child pornography or rape or violence against women is an offence even if it is being watched in a private space. So as long as you are watching porn films in your private spaces it is completely legal. Therefore it cannot be taken away by any authority, except by procedure established by Law. The Supreme Court of India in the year 2015 orally remarked in a case watching porn in a private room may fall under the right to personal liberty given under the Constitution. In India, it is not illegal to watch pornographic content in your private rooms or space.Īrticle 21 of the Indian Constitution gives the right to life and personal liberty to Indian Citizens. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. In Indian Law, three acts mainly cover the subject of pornography.ģ. This article will answer the above question by discussing the laws governing the domain of pornographic content. Since the arrest of actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra for making and transmitting pornographic videos, one question which is being asked everywhere is whether watching pornographic content is illegal in India?