The Kerala High Court on September 5 issued an order ruling that watching porn privately is not an offence and quashed criminal proceedings initiated against a man who was arrested by the Aluva police for watching pornography on his phone on the roadside. Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan noted that watching such content is a person's private choice and interference with the same amounts to an intrusion of his privacy. "If the accused is trying to circulate or distribute or publicly exhibits any obscene video or photos, then alone the offence under Section 292 IPC (Indian Penal Code) is attracted," the Justice noted. However, in this case, "there is absolutely no allegation by the prosecution that the petitioner publicly exhibited the video." What else did the judge say: Porn has been in existence for centuries: "Pornography has been in practice for centuries. The new digital age has made it more accessible than ever before and it is available even to children and adults at their fingertips." God designed sex as something between a man and woman in marriage, but consensual sex is not an offence: "God designed sexuality as something for a man and a woman within marriage. It is not only a lust but also a matter of love and for having children too," the justice noted, but immediately clarified that for "a male and female who have attained majority, doing sex with consent is not an offence." What is an offence under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code: "To attract an…
