Supreme Court holds abuse is uncivil, but not obscene
The Supreme Court of India ruled that the use of vulgar or abusive language does not automatically constitute 'obscenity' under the law. The court clarified that while such language may be uncivil, it must meet a 'community standards test' involving prurient interest to be legally classified as obscene.
Why it matters
This judgment provides a legal precedent for distinguishing between offensive speech and legally punishable obscenity in Indian courts.
The Supreme Court of India has reasoned in a judgment that the use of four-letter expletives and their variations may be “abusive, unpalatable or uncivil”, but does not qualify as ‘obscene’ in law.
“Use of mere swear words, profanities and vulgar expletives, however distasteful or uncivil they may be, cannot be equated with obscenity... Words which are merely vulgar or abusive may evoke a feeling of disgust, revulsion or shock, but that by itself does not make them obscene in law,” the court said.
The judgment by a Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Karol came in a land dispute case between neighbours in Tamil Nadu. During an altercation in 2017, one of them repeatedly flung the four-letter abuse, along with its various appendages, at another. The question before the Supreme Court was whether the user could be booked under Section 294(b) of the Indian Penal Code (obscene acts and songs).
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