‘What Can a Comma Do?’: Re-Examining Victorian Criminalisation of Obscenity through the Flawed Interlinking of ‘Decency or Morality’ Under the Strain of Modern Liberal Consciousness

Authors

• Ratika Gaur, University of DelhiFollow

Abstract

This paper argues that the rhetorical nature of India’s post-independence obscenity jurisprudence stems from the interlinking of two distinct (behavioural v. normative) categories into the singular provision of ‘decency or morality’ under Article 19(2). This interlinking emerged amidst the socio-economic and cultural upheavals in Victorian England, wherein moral anxieties around the ‘visibility’ of obscenity reflected a crisis of political obligation within the modern liberal consciousness. Operating through the logic of deterrence, this consciousness criminalized obscenity due to its ideationally incapacity to accommodate liminal expressions—acts that were neither neatly civil, nor outright criminal, even when offensive. In this regard, one substantive advancement within India’s obscenity jurisprudence could entail conceptually inserting a comma between ‘decency, or morality’, which could delegitimise reading into the act of uncivility, an intent for criminality.

Recommended Citation

Gaur, Ratika (2025) "‘What Can a Comma Do?’: Re-Examining Victorian Criminalisation of Obscenity through the Flawed Interlinking of ‘Decency or Morality’ Under the Strain of Modern Liberal Consciousness," National Law School of India Review: Vol. 36: Iss. 2, Article 10.
DOI: 10.55496/WRUR1524
Available at: https://repository.nls.ac.in/nlsir/vol36/iss2/10

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.55496/WRUR1524