Private Parts Blurred, No Obscenity: MP High Court Dismisses Plea Against Dainik Bhaskar For Allegedly Publishing Photo Of Naked Woman

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed against the Chief Editor of Dainik Bhaskar Newspaper for allegedly running an ad featuring photo of a nude woman.

Justice Achal Kumar Paliwal noted that though body of the lady shown in the advertisement did not have any cloths but, breast and genitals part were sufficiently blurred and some words were also written on those parts.

"Viewed in/from any angle, then, it cannot be said that aforesaid photograph is suggestive of deprave minds and designed to excite sexual passion in persons who are likely to look at them and see them," said the bench.

It cited In Aveek Sarkarer and another Vs. State of West Bengal and others, (2014) where the Supreme Court did not find obscene a photo of Boris Becker, a world renowned Tennis player, posing nude with his dark-skinned fiancée, with her breasts fully covered with his arms.

"In the instant case, breasts of the lady have been fully blurred and they are not visible. Thus, in the instant case also, the breasts as well as genitals part of the lady are notn visible at all. In this Court's opinion, aforesaid photograph of lady published in Dainik Bhaskar News paper, Rewa, edition has no tendency to deprave or corrupt the minds of people in whose hands the news paper would fall," the High Court observed.

The development comes in a plea moved by one Nagendra Singh Gaharwar challenging dismissal of his complaint under Sections 292 and 293 of IPC and Sections 3, 4 & 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

Dismissing the plea, the High Court said, "this Court's opinion, even prima facie, ingredients constituting offence under Section 292 and 293 of IPC and Sections 3, 4 and 6 of the Act, 1986 are not made out, and, there is no sufficient evidence and grounds for proceeding further and for taking cognizance of offence under Sections 292 and 293 of IPC and Section 3, 4 and 6 of the Act, 1986."

Case Title: Nagendra Singh Gaharwar v Dainik Bhaskar [M.Cr.C. No. 4891 of 2014]