Supreme Court’s Nepal reminder as plea seeks ban on watching porn

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the government to formulate a policy to curb watching of pornography, especially among minors.

The top court bench, led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, initially appeared uninterested to entertain the plea, but agreed to hear it after four weeks. 

“Look what happened in Nepal over a ban,” the bench reportedly said, apparently referring to the Gen Z protest that brought in a regime change in the Himalayan country in September.

Although the violent agitation focused on a range of issues including alleged corruption and nepotism, the immediate trigger was the government’s decision to ban a slew of social media platforms.

According to reports, the petitioner sough a direction from the apex court to the Centre to draft an action plan to curb pornography and prohibit watching such content in public places.

He cited the government’s own admission that several sites promoting pornographic material are available in the country. Expressing concern over the rising trend of pornography watching among school children, the petitioner lamented that there is no effective law to deal with this issue.

In a significant order in 2023, the Kerala High Court had held that watching pornographic photographs or videos in one's private time without showing it to others is not an offence.

The high court also noted that declaring such an act as an offence would amount to intrusion of a person's privacy and interference with his personal choice.

However, in 2024, the Supreme Court held that the mere viewing, possession and storage of material depicting minors engaged in sexual activity constitutes an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.