An Analysis of Laws Relating to Obscenity: Problems & Prospects

Abstract

I. INTRODUCTION "The relation between reality and relativity must haunt the court's evaluation of obscenity, expressed in society's pervasive humanity, not law's penal prescriptions." - Krishna Iyer2 Law has been an integral part of human civilization. It cannot be differentiated entirely from ethics and religion. Great philosophers like Henning and Bentham had also denied the necessity of making a difference between law and morals. Primitive societies and communities were small, and everyone lived together as it was challenging to exist individually. Various customary laws evolved. However, there was a thin line of difference between ethics and religion. The growth of multiple nations, states, and evolvement in the idea of the welfare state and worldwide activities has made considerable changes in the meaning of 'obscenity.' Concept of Obscenity The idea of obscenity is shaped by the masses' social perception of who is expected to confront obscene materials. obscenity is dynamic; the definition of the term changes from time to time. Every nation has a different meaning for the word " obscenity, " as its purpose depends on society's morality standards. obscenity can be defined as a statement or act which offends the moral standards of the community. It can be in the form of a video, picture, article, figure, or write-up against acceptable3 social, ethical standards. The word is derived from the word 'obscaena,' which in Latin means offstage. The meaning is such because potentially offensive content, such as sex, was depicted offstage in the Latin drama. The meaning of the word obscenity varies from nation to nation, even between communities having the same culture or individuals between the same community. It is a very abstract term as its components change with evolutions of culture4. Tests were laid down to understand the meaning of obscenity and censorship imposed to control and suppress the 1 Author is a student at Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, NMIMS, Mumbai, India 2 Raj Kapoor v. State, (198o) 1 SCC 43 3 Vishnu D. Sharma and F. Wooldridge, "The Law Relating to Obscene Publications in India" ICLQ (1973). 4 Tejas RK Motwani, "Obscenity as Restriction in India" IJLSR 13 (2o13). 2021. International Journal of Integrated Law Review