The Centre on Friday sought more time from the Supreme Court to formulate a policy to block pornographic websites in the country, saying it needs to hold wider consultations with various ministries as it is difficult to block international porn sites.
The SC had in April directed the Centre to file its views on devising a mechanism to block websites showing obscene sexual content, especially child pornography, after a petition contended that such websites encourage sexual aggression against women and children.
Additional Solicitor-General Indira Jaising, appearing for the government, on Friday sought more time to file a reply in the case, saying wider consultations need to be held with the ministries concerned. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir granted four weeks’ time to the Centre, saying, “It is a serious issue and government must act. How long does it take to call the meeting of concerned people?”
The court was hearing a petition filed by Indore-based advocate Kamlesh Vaswani, who pleaded that although watching obscene videos is not an offence, pornographic sites should be banned as it is one of the major causes for crime against women. The petition said absence of Internet laws encourage people to watch porn videos and since it is not an offence, over 20 crore porn videos or clippings are freely available in the market, which are directly downloaded through Internet or other video CDs.