Ranveer Allahbadia, founder of the popular YouTube channel ‘Beer Biceps’, has become the subject of a Mumbai police probe for the allegedly obscene comments he made during a guest appearance on the YouTube show ‘India’s Got Latent’.
The show host and comedian Samay Raina is also under investigation now. Though the Mumbai police have yet to register an FIR, the Assam police registered a complaint on Monday (February 10) against both Allahbadia and Raina, including charges of “obscene acts” under Section 296 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).
The Indian judiciary is no stranger to hearing cases about works or actions of public figures being labelled “obscene”. Such cases are integral to understanding how the law on obscenity has evolved, especially with digital spaces thrown into the mix. We explain.
Which laws govern obscenity in online content?
Section 294 of the BNS punishes those who sell, import, export, advertise, or profit from obscene material such as books, paintings, and figures and also includes the “display of any content in electronic form”.
It describes such material as that which “is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest” — material which is overtly and excessively sexual — or which would “tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely…to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it”. This can be punished with up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 5,000 for first-time offenders.
Publishing or transmitting obscene material online can also be punished under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The definition of obscene material is identical to that provided under Section 294 of the BNS (previously Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860). However, it provides a comparatively more rigorous punishment — up to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 5 lahks for a first-time offence.
How has the court’s understanding of obscenity evolved?
The most important early ruling on obscenity laws involved the book Lady Chatterley’s Lover, written by English author D H Lawrence. The book was considered scandalous for the times with its depictions of sexual encounters, and faced obscenity trials in several countries, including the United Kingdom and India.
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