'Language in TVF Show College Romance Obscene': Delhi High Court Orders FIR

The court noted that the obscenity in College Romance and it's availability is enough for criminal prohibition.

Delhi High Court orders an FIR against College Romance.

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On Monday, 6 March, the Delhi High Court ruled that the language used in the TVF show College Romance is "obscene, profane and vulgar", as per a report by Bar and Bench. The judge ruled that TVF, the series director Simarpreet Singh and actor Apoorva Arora can face action under Section 67 (publishing or transmitting, in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious) and 67A (punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act) of Information Technology (IT) Act.

As per the report, the Court upheld an order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), ordering the Delhi Police to file an FIR against the accused.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying,

"The Court had to watch the episodes with the aid of earphones, in the chamber, as the profanity of language used was of the extent that it could not have been heard without shocking or alarming the people around and keeping in mind the decorum of language which is maintained by a common prudent man whether in professional or public domain or even with family members at home. Most certainly, this Court notes that this is not the language that nation’s youth or otherwise citizens of this country use, and this language cannot be called the frequently spoken language used in our country".

The bench also noted that, in the name of individual freedom, such language cannot be served to general public in the pretext that this is how the country and youth in educational institutions speak.

The Court's order is based on a complaint that vulgar language was used in Season 1 Episode 5 of College Romance. The complainant alleged that not only is the title of the episode, 'Happily F***ed Up', vulgar but also it showed "indecent representation" of women.

In her judgment Justice Sharma noted that the obscenity in the show and that it is available to the public is enough to warrant criminal prohibition. She, therefore, ordered the Police to register FIR, clarifying that the direction to file an FIR does not include a direction to arrest any of the accused/ petitioner, the Bar and Bench report stated.