RANJIT D. UDESHI v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
Citation: [1965] 1 S.C.R. 65; 1964 INSC 171
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: P.B. GAJENDRAGADKAR , K.N. WANCHOO, M. HIDAYATULLAH, J.C. SHAH, N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR
Judgment date:
Case summary
1964 INSC 171. Supreme Court of India judgment dated 1964-08-19. RANJIT D. UDESHI v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA. Read the judgment and case details on LawSphereX.
Judgment text
RANJIT D. UDESHI v. STATE OF MAHARASlffRA A1fgust 19, 1964 (P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, C. J. , K. N. WANCHOO, M. HIDAYATULLAH, J. C. SHAH AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR, JJ. ) Constitution of India, 1950, Arts. J. 9(1)(a) and 19(2)-lndian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), s. 292-/f ulira vires-"Obscene", meaning of-Accused-Knowledge of obscenity-Relevance. The appellant, a book-seller, sold a copy of the unexpurgated edition of "Lady Chatterley's Lover". He was convicted under s. 292, Indian Penal Code. Irr his appeal to the Supreme Court he contended that : ( i) the section was void because it violated the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Art. 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India, (ii) even if the section was valid, the book was not obscene and (jii) it must be shown by the prosecution that he sold the book with the intention to corrupt the purchaser, that js to say, that he knew that the book was obscene.
HELD : ( i) the section embodies a reasonable restriction upon the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by An. 19 and does not fall outside the limits of restriction permitted by cl. (2) of the Article. ' The section seeks no more than the promotion of public decency and morality which are the words of that clause. (690; 70E-F; 74B]. (ii) The book must be declared obscene within the meaning of s. 292, Indian Penal Code. [SIC]. The word "obscene" in the section is not limited to writings, pictures etc. intended to arouse sexu~J desire. At the same time the mere treating with sex and nudity in art -and literature is not per se evidence of obscenity. The test given by Cockburn C. J. , in Queen v. Hicklin, (1868) L. R. 3 Q. B. 360, to the effect Miat the tendency of the matter charged as obscene must be to deprave and corrupt those, whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands a publication of the sort may fall, so far. followed in India. is the right test.
· The test does noi offend Art. 19( 1) (a) of the Constitution. [70B-C; 73H; 74B-C, F; 75FJ. In judging a work, stress should not be laid upon a word here and a word there, or a passage here and a passage there. Though the work as a whole must be considered, the obscene matter must be considered by itself and separately to find out whether it is so gross and its obscenity so decided that it is likely to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open • to influences of this sort. In this connection the interests of contemporary society and particularly the influence of the impugned book on it must not ..... be ·overlooked. Where obscenity and art are mixed, art must so preponderate as to throw the obscenity into a shado\V or the obscenity so trivial and insignificant that it can have no effect and may be overlooked.
It is necessary ·that a balance should be maintained between "freedom of speech and expression" and "public decency or morality"; but when the latter is substantially transgressed the former must give way. Ii:t other cases obscenity may be overlooked if it has a preponderating social purpose or profit. [75G~ H; 76A-B, E-G; 77A-C]. 66 SUPREME COURT . RErOi-. TS [ 1965) I S. C. R. In judging the obscenity of one book the character of o•her books is a collateral issue which need not be explored. [76C-DJ. (iii) The section does not make the book-seller'• knowledge of ol,.. - ~ an ingredient of the offence and the prosecution need not establish 1L Absence of knowledge may be taken in mitijlation but does not take the case out of the section. But the prosecuuon must prove die ordinary mens rta in the sec Esplanade, Bombay, convicted all the partners on the first count and fined each of them Rs. 20 with one week's simple imprisonment in default.
Gokuldas Shamji was additionally convicted on the second count and was sentenced to a further fine of Rs. 20 or like imprisonment in default. The Magistrate held that the offending book was obscene for purposes of the section. The present appellant filed a revision in the High Court of Bombay. The decision of the High Court was 'against him. He has now appealed to this Court by special leave and has raised the issue of freedom of speech and, expression guaranteed by the nineteenth Article. Before the High Court he had questioned the finding of the Magistrate regarding the novel. It is convenient to set out s. 292 of the Indian Penal Code at this stage: "292. Sale of obscene books etc. : Whoever- (a) sells, Jets to hire, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibitic..
n or circulation, makes, produces or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object whatsoever, or (b) imports, exports or conveys any obscene object for any of the purposes aforesaid, or knowing or having reason to believe tiJiit such object will bi. ; sold, Jet to hire, distributed or publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or (c) 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, or ( d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever ....
, that any person is engaged or is ready to engage in any act which is an offence under this section, or that any such obscene object can be procured from or through any person, or · (e) offers or attempts to do•any act Which is an offence under this section, (1965] 1 S. C. R. SUPREME COURT REi'ORTS shall be punished with imprisonment for either des-cription for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both. or for the advancement of human knowledge. This freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions which may be thought necessary in the interest of the genoral public and one such is the interest of public decency and morality. Section 292, Indian Penal Code, manifestly embodies such a restriction because the law against ob;ccnity, of course, correctly understood and applied, seeks no more than to promote public decency and morality.
The word obscenity is really not vague because it is a word which is wen-understood even if persons differ in their attitude to what is • -Obscene and what is not. Lawrence thought James Joyce's 'Ulysses to be an obscene book deserving suppression but it was legalised and he considered Jane Eyre to be pornographic but very few people will agree with him. The fonner he thought so because it dealt with excretory functions and the laher because it dealt with sex repression. (See Sex, Literati. re and Censorship pp. 26, 20 I ) . Condemnation of obscenity depends as much upon the mores of the people as upon the individual. It is always a question of degree or as tl>e lawyers are accustomed to say, of where the line is to be drawn. It is, however, clear that obscenity by itself has extremely "poor yaJue in the projJagation of ideas, opinions and informations of public interest or profit. " When there is propagation of ideas, opinions and informations of public interest UDESffi v.
STATE (8idayatullah !. ) 71 A or profit, the iipproach to the problem may become differem because then the interest of society may tilt the scales in favour " of free speech and expression. It is thus that books on m~,dical science with intimate illustrations and photographs, though in a sense immodest, are not considered to be obscene but the same illustrations and photographs collected in book form without the B medical text would certainly be considered to be obscene. Section 292, Indian Penal Code deals with obscenity in this sense and cannot thus be said to be invalid in view of the second clause of Art. 19. The next question is when can an object be said to be 'obscene? c Before dealing with that problem we wish to dispose of Mr. Garg's third argument that the prosecution must prove that the person who sells or keeps for sale any obscene object knows that it is obscene, before he can be adjudged guilty. We do not accept this argument.
The first sub-section of s, 292 (unlike some others which open with the words "whoever knowingly or negligently etc. ") D docs not make knowledge of obscenity an ingredient of the offence, The prosecution need not prove something which the law does not burden it with, If knowledge were made a part of the guilty act ( actus reus), and the law required the prosecution to prove it, _it would place an almost impenetrable defence in the hands of offenders. Something much less than actual knowledge must E therefore suffice. It is argued that the number of books these days is so large and their contents so varied that the question whether there is mens era or not must be based on definite knowledge of the existence of obscenity. We can only interpret the law as we find it and if any exception is to be made it is for Parliament to enact a law. As we have pointed out, the· diffi- F culty of obtaining legal evidence of the offender's knowledge of the obscenity of the book etc.
, has made the liability strict. Under our law absence of such knowledge, may be taken in mitigation but it does not take the case out of the sub-section. Next to consider is the second part of the guilty act ( actus G reus), namely, the selling or keeping for sale of an object which is found to be obscene. Here, of course, the ordinary guilty intention (mens rea) will be required before the offence can be said to be complete, The offender must have actually sold or kept for sale, the offending article, The circumstances of the case will then determine the crimiml intent and it will be a matter of a proper H inference from them, The argument that the prosecutiori must give positi're evidence to establish a guilty intention Involves a supposi-tion that mens rea must always be established by the prosecution through positive evidence. In criminal prosecution mens rca must necessarily be proved by circumstantial evidence alone unless the accused confesses.
The sub-section makes sale and possession for sale one of the elements of the offence. · As sale has taken place and" " the appellant is a book-seller the necessary inference is readily drawn at least in this case. Difficulties may, however, arise in cases close to the border. To escape liability the appellant can prove his lack of knowledge unless the circumstances are such that he must be held guilty for the acts of another. The court will presume that he is guilty if the book is sold on his behalf and is later found to be obscene unless he can establish that the sale was without his knowledge or consent. The law against obscenity has always impo! l(! d a strict responsibility. When Wilkes printed a dozen copies of his Essay on Woman for private circulation, the printer took :m extra copy for himself. That copy was pu~chased from the printer and it brought Wilkes to grief before Lord Mansfield.
The gist of the offence was· taken to be publication-circulation and Wilkes v;as presumed to have circulated it. Of course, Wilkes published numer-ous other obscene and libellous writings in different ways and when Madame Pampadour asked him : "How far does the liberty of the Press extend in England ? " he gave the characteristic answc "I do not know. I am trying to find out! " (See 52 Harv. L. ReY. 40). The problem of scienter (knowingly doing an act) has caused anxious thought in the United States under the Comstock law [ 19 U. S. C. 1461 (1958)) which deals with the non-mailability of obscene matter. We were cited Manual Enterprises Inc. v. /. Edward Day(') but there was so little concurrence in the Court that it has often been said, and perhaps rightly, that the case has little opinion value. The same is perhaps true of the latest case Nico Jacobellis v. State of Ohio (decided on June 22, 1964) of which a copy of the judgment was produced for our perusal.
• It may, however, be pointed out that one may have to consider a plea that the publication was for public good. This bears on the question whether the book etc. can in those circumstances be regarded as obscene. It is necessary to bear in mind that this may ii raise nice points of the' claims of society to suppress obscenity and the 'claims of society to allow free speech. No such plea has been raised in this case but we mention it to draw attention to the fact that this may lead to different results in different cases. When Savage published his Progress of a Divine, and was. prosecuted for it, his plea was that he had "introduced obscene ideas with a view to exposing them to detestation, and of amending the age by showing (I) 370 U. S. 478: 8 L. ed. ~d 639. UDESHI v.. STATE (Hidayatullah J. ) 73 the depravity of wickedness" and the plea was accepted (See Dr. Johnson's Life of Savage in his Lives of the Poets). In Hicklin's case(') Blackbum J.
did not' accept a similar plea in respect of the pamphlet before him observing that it would "justify the publication of anything however indecent, however obscene, and however mischievous. " We are not called upon to decide this issue in this case but we have found it necessary to mention it because ideas having social importance will prima facie be pro-tected unless obscenity is so gross and decided that the interest of the public dictates the other way. We shall now consider what is meant by the word "obscene" in s. 292, Indian Penal Code. The Indian Penal Code borrowed the word from the English Statute. As the word "obscene" has been interpreted by English Courts something may be said of that interpretation first. The Common law offence of obscenity was established in England three hnndred years ago when Sir Charles Sedley exposed his person to the public gaze on the balcony of a tavern. Obscenity in books, ,. however, was punishable only be.
fore the spiritual courts because it • was so held down to 1708 in which year Queen v. Read ( 11 Mt>d 205 Q. B. ) was decided. In 1727 in the case against one Curl it was ruled for the first time that it was a Common Law offence (2 Stra. 789 K. B. ). In 1857 Lord Campbell enacted the first legisla-tive measure against obscene books etc: and his successor in the office of Chief Justice interpreted his statute (20 & 21 Viet. C. · 83) in Hick/in's case('). The section of the English Act is long (they were so in those days), but it used the word "obscene" and provided for search, seizure and destruction of obscene books etc. and made their sale, possession· for sale, distribution etc. a misde-meanour. The section may thus be regarded as substantially in pari materia with s. 292; Indian Penal Code, in spite of some differences in language.
In Hick/in's case(') the Queen's Bench was called upon to consider a pamphlet; the nature of which can be gathered from the title and the colophon which read : "The Confession Unmasked, showing the depravity of Romish priest-hood, the iniquity of the confessional, and the questions put to females in confession. " It was bilingual with Latin and English texts on opposite pages and the latter half of the pamphlet according to the report was "grossly obscene, as relating to impure and filthy acts, words or ideas". Cockburn, C. J. laid down the test . of obscenity in these words : ". . . . . I think the test of obscenity is this, whether. the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral (I) (1868) ~R. 3 Q. B, 360 SUPREMF. COCRT REPORTS (1965] l S. C. R. influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall. . . . .
it is quite certain that it would suggest to the minds of the young of either sex, or even to ~. persons of more advanced years, thoughts of a most impure and libidinous character. " This test has been uniformly applied in India. The imp0rtant question is whether this test of obscenity squa-res witb the freedom . of speech and expression guaranteed under our Constitution, or it needs to be modified and, if so, in what respects. The first of these questions invites the Court to reach a decision on a constitutional issue of a most far-reaching character and we must beware that we may not lean too far away from the guaranteed freedom. The laying down of the true test is not rendered any easier because art has such varied facets and such individualistic appeals that in the same object the insensitive sees only obscenity because his attention is arrested, not by the general or artistic appeal or message which he· cannot comprehend, but by what he can see, .
and the intellectual sees beauty and art but nothing gross. ·The Indian Penal Code does not define the word "obscene" and this delicate task of how to distingui~h between that which is artistic and that which is obscene has to be performed by courts, and in the last resort by us. The test which we evolve must obviously be of a general character but it must admit of a just application from case to case by indicating a line of demarcation not necessarily sharp but sufficieJ! tly distinct to distinguish between that which is obscene and that which is not. None has so far attempted a definition of obscenity because the meaning can be laid bare without attempting a definition by describing what must be looked for. It may, however, be said at once that treating with sex and nudity in art and literature cannot be regarded as evidence of obscenity without something more.
It is not necessary that the angels and saints of Michaelangelo should be made to wear • breeches before they can be viewed. If the rigid test of treating with sex as the minimum ingredient were accepted hardly any writer of fiction today would escape the fate Lawrence had in his days. Half the book-shops would close and the other half would deal in nothing but moral and religious books which Lord Campbell boasted was the effect of his Act. ...... The question is now narrowed to what is obscenity 3! disting-uished from a permissible treating with sex ? Mr. Garg relies on some passages from the opinions expressed in the Supreme Court of the United States in Samuel Roth v. U. S. A. (') and from the (I) 354 U. S. 476; I Led. 2d. 1498 (1957). UDESlll v. STATE (Hidayatullah ]. ) 75 charge to the jury by Stable J. in Regina v. Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd.
(1) and invites us to adopt the test of "hard-core pornography" for the interpretation of the word "obscene" in the ·"' Indian Penal Code. He points out that the latest statute in England now makes exceptions leading to the same result. He has also referred to some books and literary and artistic publications which hav: not been considered objectionable. It may be admitted that the world has certainly moved far away from the times when Pamela, Moll Flanders, Mrs. Warren's Profession, and even Mill on the Floss were considered immodest. Today all these and authors from Aristophanes to Zola are widely read and in most of them one hardly notices obscenity. If our attitude to art versus obscenity had not undergone a radical change, books like Caldwell's God's Little Acre and Andre Gide's If It Die would not have survived the strict test.
The English Novel has come out of the drawing room and it is a far cry from the days when Thomas Hardy described the seduction of Tess by speaking of her guardian angels. Thomas Hardy himself put in -hi~ last two novels situations which "were strongly disapproved of under the conventi0ns of the age", but they were extremely mild COI>lpared with books today. The world is now able to tolerate • much more than formerly, having become indurated by literature of different sorts. The attitude is not yet settled. Curiously, varying results are noticeable in respect of the same book and in the United States the same book is held to be obscene in one State bi:t not in another [See A Suggested Solution to the Riddle of Obscenity (1964), 112 Penn. L. Rev. 834]. But even if we agree thus far, the question remains . still whether the Hicklin 'test is to be discarded? We do not think that it should be discarded. It makes the court the judge of obscenity in relation to an impugned book etc.
· and lays emphasis on the potentiality of the impugned object to deprave and corrupt by immoral influences. It Will always remain a question to decide in each case and it does not compel an adverse decision in all cases. Mr. Garg, however, urges that the test must be modified in two respects. He wants us to say that a book is not necessarily obscene because there is a word here or a word there, or a passage here and a passage there which may be offensive to particularly sensitive persons. He says that the overall effect of the book . should be the test and secondly, that the book should O:lUlar surmort. Only an obscurant will deny the need for such caution. This consideration marches with all law and precedent H on this subject and so considered we can only say that where ··-- ·----. ----·- (! ) (1868) L. R. 3 Q. B. 360 (2) (19S4) 2 Q. B. 16 UDESm v. STATE (Hidayatullah I.
) 77 obscenity and art are mixed, art must so preponderate as to throw the obscenity into a shadow or the obscenity so trivial and insignificant that it can have no effect and may be overlooked. In other words, treating with sex in a manner offensive to public decency and morality (and these are the words of our Fundamental Law), judged of by our national standards and considered likely to pander to lascivious, prurient or sexually precocious minds, must determine the result. We need not attempt to bowdlerize all literature and thus rob speech and expression of fre. edom. A balance should be maintained between freedom of speech and expression and public decency and morality but when the latter is substantially transgressed the former must give way. We may now refer to Roth's case(') to which a reference has been made. Mr.
Justice Brennan, who delivered the majority opinion in that case observed that if obscenity is to be judged of by the effect of an isolated passage or tw~ upon particularly sus-ceptible persons, it might well encompass material legitimately treating with sex and might become unduly restrictive and so the offending book ,must be considered in -its entirety. Chief Justice Warren on the other hand made "Substantial tendency to corrupt by arousing lustful desires" as the test. Mr. Justice Harlan regarded as the test that must "tend to sexually impure thoughts" In our opinion, the test to adopt in our country (regard being had to our community mores) is that obS prune and prune his writings and he wrote and rewrote his novels to satisfy them. Aldous Huxley tells us that Lady Chatterley's Laver was written three times [Essays (Dent)]. Aldington in his Portrait of a Genius has seen " in this a desire to avoid being pornographic but the fact is that Lawrence hated to be bowdlerized.
His first publisher Heinemann ·-refused bis Sons and Lovers and he went over to Duclcworths. They refmed bis Rainbow and he went to Secker. They brought out his Lost Girl and it won a prize but after the Rainbow he was a banned author whose name could not be mentioned in genteel society. He became bitter and decided to produce a "taboo-shat-tering bomb". At the same time he started writing in defence· of his fight for sexual liberation in English writing. 'This was Law- .... rence's first reason for writing the book under our review. Lawrence viewed sex with indifferen atly cannot sustain it long and without them the book is nOlhillg. The proropti. llgs of the unconscious parti- ... ' cularly in the region of SOX is iUggcsted as the message in tbo book. But it is not easy for tho ordinary reader to find it. 'Ibo Machine Ago a'1<I its inlpac:t oo stX:ial life which is its -secolldary '4 theme does not intenist tile rl)ader for ~1hose protection, as wo said, the law has lieen framed.
UDESHI v. STATE (Hidayatullah J. ) 81 We have dealt with the question at some length because this is the first case before this Court invoking the. constitutiorull guarantee against the operation of the law. regarding obscenity ,) and the book is one from an author of repute and the centre. ot many controversic;s. 11te book is probably an unfolding of his . philosophy of life and of the urges of the unconscious but these • are unfolded in his other books aiso and have been fully set out in his Psych0analysis . and the Unconscious . and . fulally in the Fantasia of the Unconscious. There is no IOSs to society if there was a messa)! e in the . book. The divagations with sex are not a legitimate embroidery but they are tilt only attractioru; to the common man. When everything said iii its favour we ftn.
d that in treating with sex the impugned portions viewed separately and also in De setting of' the whole book pass the permissible limits judged of from· our community standards and as there . Is 'lio sociM gain to us which can. be said to preponderate, we mllst hold the book to satisfy the test we have indicated above.. In the conclusion we lire of the opinion that the High Court was right in dismissing the revision petition. The lppcal fails and is dismissed. Appeal dismis~d.
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