Why is Ranveer Singh’s nude photo not obscene?

On the second episode of The Leaflet podcast series, our host Gursimran Kaur Bakshi interacts with Supreme Court's Advocate-on-Record, Prashant Padmanabhan. The episode has our guest Padmanabhan decoding how and when obscenity can become an offence under Indian law, in the light of the controversy surrounding actor Ranveer Singh posting his nude photos on the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter on July 22.

During the conversation, Padmanabhan throws light on concepts such as constitutional morality, Hicklin Test, and the community standard test.  He also discusses with Bakshi why criminal provisions should be given restrictive meaning and read down, how the Delhi High Court decided the case in favour of M.F.Hussain when the eminent artist was dragged to various courts for his nude paintings of Hindu goddesses, and how the Supreme Court decided similar cases in recent years.

The podcast was recorded on July 30, 2022.