NEW DELHI — Members of India’s Supreme Court are petitioning the country’s government to establish a ban on online porn.
Chief Justice Altamas Kabi has issued notices to the ministries of Information and Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Home Affairs and the Internet Service Providers Association of India regarding the petition.
According to DNAIndia.com, advocate Kamles Vasawani filed the petition claiming that porn is a major cause of crime against women, and is easily available to children.
Although the production and distribution of porn is an offense, watching porn is legal in India.
At first, the Court hesitated at presenting the pleas, feeling it should be addressed under India’s information technology laws, but was then convince by another petitioner that the enforcement would be beyond the powers of the Constitution.
Advocates of the ban said absence of Internet laws encourage people to watch porn that puts society in danger and threatens public order.
"The petitioner most respectfully submits that most of the offences committed against women/girls/children are fuelled by pornography. The worrying issue is the severity and gravity of the images is increasing. It is a matter of serious concern that prepubescent children are being raped," the petition said.
Pointing to a Delhi gang rape case in which a 23-year-old paramedical student died after being physically and sexually assaulted by six persons as an example porn fueling crime, the proponents of the measure said that “watching and sharing obscene videos” should carry punishments without bail.