The Supreme Court has rightly observed that it was not possible to ban all pornographic content, either on the net or otherwise in India, especially when such content is consumed within the confines of one’s home. However one incident has come to light in the recent past where a Mumbai woman has gone to court asking for such a ban, because her husband has allegedly become addicted to such films and that is making her home situation intolerable.
When the Supreme Court’s nine-judge constitution bench was hearing arguments over privacy as a fundamental right, the issue of pornography had come up. Even as the Maharashtra government had hinted that watching pornography inside one’s home was not a fundamental right that Indians could claim and that it might be illegal (public watching is definitely illegal) senior advocate Aryama Sundaram had asked: “Can I come to court and say I have a fundamental right to watch pornography in my home?”
This question was on the side (not part of the main arguments) and Justice Jasti Chelameswar had reportedly answered “Why not?”
That (while not an official verdict of any sort) indicated the court’s intent and understanding of the issue.
The court had also, in another context and time, observed that it was technically impossible to ban or block all such sites, because that would also mean banning other sites. At that time the then Additional Solicitor General K V Vishwanathan had told the bench headed by Justice BS Chauhan that blocking such sites will also block meaningful literature which will be of greater harm to the public.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by an Indore-based advocate Kamlesh Vashwani who had submitted that while watching such videos was not a crime, sites hosting such pornographic content are one of the main reasons behind the many cases of offence against women in India. In fact, India is one of the largest consumers of such videos.
This particular case is not possibly of a cognizable criminal offence. The 27-year-old woman has said that her husband’s addition to adult films has ruined her married life, because he has been allegedly behaving unnaturally for quite some time.
A report by a news agency has said that she claimed her husband spent most of his time on these sites and became so ‘perverted’ that he ignored her material and physical needs and also missed to carry out his daily activities.
She also said that her 35-year-old was forcing her to have ‘unnatural oral sex’ against her wishes. As per the petition, as reported: “My husband has been an addict of adult movies and spends a lot of his precious time watching it. He is suffering from lack of virility and vitality and thus is unable to initiate sexual intercourse. However, my husband has at times forced me to have unnatural oral sex with him against my wishes. Thus, he is exhibiting abnormal behaviour ruining my married life.”
While there is no medical proof to bolster such claims of the woman, she has claimed that the easy availability of such content was the main reason for all this.
She has said in her petition: “The easy availability of porn in this country is a serious impediment in the progress of this nation as a whole new generation is adversely affected leading to perversion of youth, loss of moral and spiritual values which if not checked can lead to total lack of productivity, rise in sex crimes, matrimonial disputes and a state of doom.”
—India Legal Bureau