12
impose restrictions on the exercise of the right in
the interests of public decency or morality. The
section of the Penal Code in dispute was introduced
by the Obscene Publications Act (7 of 1925) to give
effect to Article 1 of the International' Convention
for the suppression of or traffic in obscene
publications signed by India in 1923 at Geneva. It
does not go beyond obscenity which falls directly
within the words "public decency (1) (1868) L.R. 3
Q.B. 360. and morality" of the second clause of the
article. The word, as the dictionaries tell us, denotes
the quality of being obscene which means offensive
to modesty or decency; lewd, filthy and repulsive. It
cannot be denied that it is an important interest of
society to suppress obscenity. There is, of course,
some difference between obscenity and pornography
in that the latter denotes writings, pictures etc.
intended to arouse sexual desire while the former
may include writings etc. not intended to do so but
which have that tendency. Both, of course, offend
against public decency and morals but pornography
is obscenity in a more aggravated form. Mr. Garg
seeks to limit action to cases of intentional lewdness
which he describes as "dirt for dirt's sake" and
which has now received the appellation of hardcore pornography by which term is meant libidinous
writings of high erotic effect unredeemed by
anything literary or artistic and intended
to
arouse, sexual feelings.
x
x
x
x
9.
The former he thought so because it dealt with
excretory functions and the latter because it dealt
-with sex repression. (See Sex, Literature and
Censorship pp. 26 201). Condemnation of obscenity
depends as much upon the mores of the people as
upon the individual. It is always a question of
Page 12