Is porn legal in India: the short answer
The question is porn legal in India is usually two questions in one: whether it is a crime to watch it, and whether it is a crime to put it online or to send it to someone. Is porn legal in India as a matter of the Information Technology Act 2000? The Act answers the second question directly and the first only in part. Section 67 and section 67A punish publishing or transmitting, and causing to be published or transmitted, obscene material and material containing a sexually explicit act in electronic form. They do not contain the words viewing or watching. Section 67B, which concerns material depicting children, is different: it also punishes creating, collecting, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging and distributing such material.
That is a reading of the text of the Act, not a statement that everything not named in these sections is lawful. The general criminal law has its own provisions on obscenity, the Government has a separate power to direct the blocking of information for public access, and courts decide each case on its facts. This page describes the statute and does not offer legal advice.
Section 67 of the IT Act: obscene material
Section 67 of the IT Act applies to whoever publishes or transmits, or causes to be published or transmitted, in electronic form any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest, or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. The test is therefore the effect of the material on the persons likely to see it, taking the circumstances into account, and not merely whether the material shows nudity.
The punishment on first conviction is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and a fine which may extend to Rs 5 lakh. On a second or subsequent conviction it is imprisonment of either description up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh. The step in the penalty for a repeat offence is a feature of all three sections.
Section 67A of the IT Act: sexually explicit acts
Section 67A is narrower in subject and heavier in penalty. It applies to whoever publishes or transmits, or causes to be published or transmitted, in electronic form any material which contains a sexually explicit act or conduct. On first conviction the punishment is imprisonment of either description up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh; on a second or later conviction, imprisonment up to seven years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh. The section is aimed at the circulation of explicit content, and the verbs it uses are the same as in section 67, publishing and transmitting.
Section 67B of the IT Act: material depicting children
Section 67B deals with material depicting children, and for this purpose the Act defines children as persons who have not completed the age of 18 years. It lists five kinds of conduct. The first is publishing or transmitting, or causing to be published or transmitted, material in any electronic form which depicts children engaged in a sexually explicit act or conduct. The second is creating text or digital images, collecting, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging or distributing material in any electronic form depicting children in an obscene, indecent or sexually explicit manner. The third is cultivating, enticing or inducing children to an online relationship with one or more children for a sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resource. The fourth is facilitating the abuse of children online, and the fifth is recording in any electronic form one’s own abuse or that of others pertaining to a sexually explicit act with children.
The punishment is the same as under section 67A: up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on a first conviction, and up to seven years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on a second or later conviction. The second clause is the reason that the position on children’s material is stricter than on adult material. It reaches a person who collects, seeks, browses or downloads such material, and not only the person who publishes it. The Ministry of Home Affairs notes that cyber crime cases are handled under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, so an incident involving a child can engage all three.
How the offence provisions work
Three phrases in the text do most of the work. The first is publishes or transmits. A person who uploads material to a website, posts it on a social platform or sends it to another person by message is publishing or transmitting it. The second is causes to be published or transmitted, which reaches a person who arranges for someone else to do it, for example by instructing or paying another person. The third is in electronic form, which ties the offence to the medium and distinguishes it from the older law on printed matter. Taken together, section 67 of the IT Act and section 67A are offences of distribution.
The penalties are maximums. The phrase may extend to means that the court can impose less than the figure, and the phrase imprisonment of either description means that the sentence may be simple or rigorous. The step to a higher maximum on a second or subsequent conviction applies where the person has been convicted before. Under section 77A of the Act, a court may compound offences other than those for which the punishment is life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term exceeding three years, and it may not compound an offence where the accused is liable to enhanced punishment because of a previous conviction. As a result the offences in sections 67A and 67B, which carry up to five years or seven years, fall outside compounding. Section 77B provides that an offence punishable with imprisonment of three years and above is cognizable and that an offence punishable with imprisonment of three years is bailable.
Investigation and procedure
Under section 78, a police officer not below the rank of Inspector investigates any offence under the Act. Section 80 adds a power of search and arrest: a police officer not below the rank of Inspector, or another authorised officer of the Central Government or a State Government, may enter any public place and search and arrest without warrant any person found there who is reasonably suspected of having committed, of committing or of being about to commit an offence under the Act. The section explains that a public place includes any public conveyance, any hotel, any shop or any other place intended for use by, or accessible to, the public.
Cases under these sections depend on digital evidence: the account that posted the material, the records of the platform and the contents of the devices involved. How that evidence is collected and why the method matters is covered in the page on computer forensics. Anyone wondering again whether porn is legal in India after reading this page should keep the distinction in view: the Act’s offences in sections 67 and 67A concern distribution, section 67B reaches further for material depicting children, and everything else depends on the other laws and on the facts of the case.
The three sections side by side
| Section | Offence | Subject | Punishment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form | Material that is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest, or whose effect tends to deprave and corrupt those likely to see it | First conviction: up to 3 years and fine up to Rs 5 lakh. Later conviction: up to 5 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh |
| 67A | Publishing or transmitting material containing a sexually explicit act or conduct | Material that contains a sexually explicit act or conduct | First conviction: up to 5 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh. Later conviction: up to 7 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh |
| 67B | Material depicting children in a sexually explicit act, and related conduct | Material depicting a person under 18 in a sexually explicit act or in an obscene, indecent or sexually explicit manner, and the acts listed in clauses (a) to (e) | First conviction: up to 5 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh. Later conviction: up to 7 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh |
Exceptions to sections 67, 67A and 67B
The proviso to section 67B contains a safeguard that applies to all three sections. Sections 67, 67A and 67B do not extend to any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure in electronic form whose publication is proved to be justified as being for the public good, on the ground that it is in the interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of general concern, or which is kept or used for bona fide heritage or religious purposes. The burden is on the person relying on the exception to prove that the publication is justified, and the exception is not a licence for material that merely claims an artistic or educational purpose. The proviso is the part of the answer to is porn legal in India that is most often overlooked, and it is for the court to decide whether it applies.
Who else is affected: platforms and related offences
A platform that carries user material is an intermediary, and section 79 gives it an exemption from liability for third party information on conditions, one of which is that on receiving actual knowledge, or on being notified by the appropriate Government or its agency, it removes or disables access to the material expeditiously. The Supreme Court has held in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) that this refers to actual knowledge from a court order or a Government notification within Article 19(2), and not to the platform's own view of a complaint. Section 69A allows the Central Government, or an officer it specially authorises, to direct that information be blocked for access by the public through any computer resource, on the grounds the section lists. Section 67C requires an intermediary to preserve and retain specified information for the period and in the manner the Central Government prescribes.
A related provision protects a different interest. Section 66E punishes capturing, publishing or transmitting an image of a private area of a person without consent, in circumstances violating privacy, with imprisonment up to three years or a fine up to Rs 2 lakh, or both. Sharing such an image is therefore an offence on that ground even where the material is not obscene in the sense of section 67. The full list of offences in Chapter XI is in the guide to the IT Act 2000.
Reporting material and incidents
Incidents of this kind can be reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, which the Ministry of Home Affairs says was launched with a special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Reports made on the portal are handled by the State or Union Territory police, which converts them into FIRs. The way offences of this kind are recorded in the official statistics is described under cyber crime in India, and the digital evidence that such cases depend on is explained under computer forensics.
Frequently asked questions
Is porn legal in India?
The Information Technology Act 2000 does not use that word. It punishes publishing or transmitting obscene material (section 67) and material containing a sexually explicit act (section 67A), and it punishes a wider set of acts, including browsing and downloading, where the material depicts children (section 67B). Other laws also apply, and a court decides each case on its facts.
Does the IT Act punish viewing adult material in private?
Sections 67 and 67A are written around publishing, transmitting and causing material to be published or transmitted. They do not use the words viewing or browsing. Section 67B, which concerns children, does name browsing and downloading.
What is the punishment under section 67B of the IT Act?
Up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on a first conviction, and up to seven years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on a second or later conviction.
Who counts as a child under section 67B?
A person who has not completed the age of 18 years.
Are there any exceptions to sections 67, 67A and 67B?
Yes. The proviso to section 67B says the three sections do not extend to a book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure in electronic form whose publication is proved to be justified as being for the public good, in the interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of general concern, or which is kept or used for bona fide heritage or religious purposes.