Samaresh Bose v Amal Mitra (1985) | Vulgarity vs Obscenity Explained

Case 6 of 30 in Law Easy's Media Law series. Samaresh Bose v. Amal Mitra, Supreme Court of India, decided 1985. FACTS Bengali writer Samaresh Bose's novel Prajapati was published in the Puja number of the journal Desh. A young advocate, Amal Mitra, complained that it was obscene. The trial court convicted the author and the publisher and fined each 201 rupees, and the Calcutta High Court upheld the conviction. WHAT THE COURT HELD In a judgment by Justice A. N. Sen, the Supreme Court acquitted both. A judge should first read the work from the author's position and then from the position of readers of every age group into whose hands it may fall. Vulgarity arouses disgust, revulsion or boredom but does not deprave or corrupt, so a vulgar writing is not necessarily obscene. The novel's slang and frank descriptions depicted the dark side of society and were not obscene. EXAM POINT Examiners love this distinction between bad taste and legally punishable obscenity. The old provision was Section 292 I.P.C.; the corresponding present section is Section 294 B.N.S. PREVIOUS CASE: K. A. Abbas v. Union of India - https://youtu.be/YI5LA3HH6pk NEXT CASE: Bobby Art International v. Om Pal Singh Hoon - https://youtu.be/K0bgDpthH6Q FULL PLAYLIST (all 30 cases in order): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY-t71WbMh6k COMPLETE LECTURE (all 30 cases, 1 hour 52 minutes): https://youtu.be/8AFvktrLPM4 Made for LL.B. students and for CLAT PG, UGC NET Law and judiciary exam preparation. Subscribe to Law Easy for the full law course. Notes: https://www.thelaweasy.com #MediaLaw #Obscenity #LawEasy