“Savita Bhabhi” No Longer Banned
By Naiwrita, Gaea News NetworkThursday, February 11, 2010
NEW DELHI, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Websites like “Savita Bhabhi” will no longer be banned by the government, according to the latest amendment to the Information Technology Act. The latest amendment suggests that pornographic sites, such as the above mentioned “Savita Bhabhi”, will no longer fall under the discretion of the government of India, instead, it would be the jurisdiction of the courts alone, which would be able to block those sites if they feel the requirement. However, the discretionary power has not totally been taken away from the government. It has been ruled that the Indian Government can enforce the banning of such sites if they give rise to some sort of a “public order” mishap.
The Information Technology Act, which falls under Section 69 of the Indian Constitution, stated that the government of India could bring about the blocking of any such website, such as “Savita Bhabhi”, if it felt that the site was promoting anything that may be detrimental to the society, or that it was committing any sort of offense recognized by law. Under such punishable offense came the statutes of promotion of obscenity, a charge that the pornographic sites were liable to face.
However, the amendment in Act 69A states that the government would only be able to ban any site on five grounds, namely, defense of the state, integrity and sovereignty, harmony with foreign states, security and public order. It is not likely that any pornographic site, such as “Savita Bhabhi”, would be likely to hamper any of these, and obscenity is not an issue that the government can deal with any more, as it does not fall under any of these categories.
