Raj Kundra’s arrest: What laws say about making porn movies in India
Businessman and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra has been arrested on several charges including cheating, making pornography etc.
The Mumbai Police received complaints from more than one woman of being lured into starring in adult content for Raj Kundra’s app Hotshots, which has a UK link. After a few arrests and raids, the police finally reached Raj Kundra.
The charges under which Raj Kundra has been booked include Section 420 (cheating), Section 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 and other sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code: According to this section, something shall be deemed as obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest. Under its many provisions which bar selling, renting, distributing any such content, the section says whoever “takes part in or receives profits from any business in the course of which he knows or has reason to believe that any such obscene objects are for any of the purposes aforesaid, made, produced, purchased, kept, imported, exported, conveyed, publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation shall be punished.
Section 293 of the Indian Penal Code: This section deals with the age of the customers/audience as it says “Whoever sells, lets to hire, distributes, exhibits or circulates to any person under the age of twenty years any such obscene object as is referred to in the last preceding section, or offers or attempts so to do, shall be punished”.
There are several sections of the Information Technology Act, 2020 which pertain to pornography.
Section 67 in the IT Act: This provision says whoever “publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished”.
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 says no person shall publish, or cause to be published, or arrange or take part in the publication or exhibition of, any advertisement which contains indecent representation of women in any form.
There are detailed provisions in Indian laws banning child pornography.
While shooting for adult content is banned in India, viewing porn got periodically blocked as the government blocked many sites in the recent past. However, watching adult content is not officially banned in India.