Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: It is not possible to control the availability of content containing profanity and swear words by making it illegal, the Supreme Court has emphasised, adding that labelling abusive language as a criminal offence would in fact be an infraction of free speech rights.
The apex court set aside the Delhi High Court verdict of March 6, 2023, by which it had upheld an order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) asking the Delhi Police to register an FIR in connection with an episode in web series, ‘College Romance’, against TVF, the show’s director Simarpreet Singh and actor Apoorva Arora under the Information Technology Act.
The top court noted that the High Court had taken the meaning of the language in its literal sense, outside the context in which such expletives have been spoken, and the order was a “disproportionate and excessive measure that violates freedom of speech, expression, and artistic creativity”.
Verdict set aside “We are of the opinion that the High Court was not correct in its conclusion that the web series has obscene content and that therefore the provisions of Section 67 of the IT Act are attracted,” it said.
“No offence of publication or transmission of any material in electronic form, which is obscene, lascivious, or appealing to prurient interest, and/or having the effect of tending to deprave and corrupt persons, as provided under Section 67 of the IT act, is made out,” the Bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and PS Narasimha said in the judgment.
“We allow the appeals against the judgment of the High Court …and set aside the judgment of the High Court, and quash FIR registered at Police Station Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi dated April 16, 2023, under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act against the appellants”, the Bench said.
