The Supreme Court has ruled that the mere use of swear words, profanities, or vulgar expletives, however offensive or uncivil, does not amount to the offence of obscenity under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Vipul M. Pancholi made the observation while hearing a petition challenging a Madras High Court order that upheld a man's conviction under Section 294(b) of the IPC.
The court said abusive or vulgar language alone cannot be treated as obscene unless it is shown to be lascivious, appeals to prurient interests, and has the tendency to deprave or corrupt the minds of those exposed to it.
"For an utterance to be considered obscene, it must be shown that it was lascivious, appealed to prurient interests, and had the tendency to deprave and corrupt the minds of those who are exposed to it," the bench said.
The court added that even if the allegations in the complaint were accepted in full, the words used did not meet the legal threshold for obscenity under Section 294(b).
It also noted that the prosecution had failed to establish another essential ingredient of the offence: that the alleged remarks caused annoyance to others in a public place.
"In the absence thereof, we find that the offence under Section 294(b) IPC is not made out," the bench said.
The case stemmed from a property dispute in Tamil Nadu in August 2017. According to the prosecution, the accused abused the complainant using vulgar language and caste-based slurs during an altercation over agricultural land.
The trial court had convicted him under Sections 294(b) (obscenity), 326 (grievous hurt), and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
While the Madras High Court later acquitted him of the charges under the SC/ST Act, it upheld his convictions under the IPC.