Possession of sexually explicit pictures unless circulated is not a crime: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court has held that “ keeping sexually explicit photographs in possession will not amount to a criminal activity until and unless the photographs were distributed or published for advertisement or for any other incidental purpose” . In the present case, a man and a woman were waiting at the bus station where the police officers seized their video camera. The camera contained few sexually explicit photographs and videos of a woman due to which they had suffered an invasive search by the police at the bus station. Later, a criminal proceeding was instituted against them under section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 for the publication of explicit pictures of a woman. The two petitioners approached the High Court for quashing the proceeding under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the ground that the explicit photographs and video were only in their possession and the content of the camera was not published or circulated in public. The prosecution in its submission stated that the man took the photographs and videos of the women with the intention of circulating them among others. The matter was heard by the Judge, who after hearing the case from both the sides, came to a conclusion that the prosecution failed in proving the submissions made by them. However, the Court stated that a person will not be held liable for keeping explicit photographs and videos in his/her possession under the Act unless it is proved against them that they have distributed or published the photographs or the videos for advertisement, or for any other incidental purpose. Therefore, in the present matter, the proceeding was quashed by the Hon'ble High Court as no case was found against the two accused.