Supreme Court Refuses PIL Seeking National Policy To Curb Pornography Access By Minors

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a PIL seeking a national policy and draft an action plan to curb the watching of pornography, especially in those who have not attained the age of majority.

"The issue is of paramount importance, but it is not a question of law to be dealt by this court. It involves primarily a question of policy, on technological advancement. We impress upon the authorities to consider this," a CJI Kant led bench said today.

The plea also sought to prohibit the watching of pornographic material of any form at public place.

Notably, the matter had come up before a CJI Gavai led bench on November 3, 2025 which questioning the petitioner the bench had said, "Look what happened in Nepal over a ban". CJI was referring to a ban on social media in Nepal in the first week of September which had sparked massive anti-government protests that ousted the government of then Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.

Filed through Advocate Varun Thakur, the petition argues there is no effective law to deal with this issue and watching of pornography adversely affects persons as well as society specially growing minds aged 13-18 years. "The internet pornography statistics, shows shocking data, wherein every second 5000 porn sites were watched, since from 2005, More than 2 crore porn videos /porn clippings are being launched through Internet or porn videos each year, it estimates about more than 20 crores porn video/porn clippings including child pornography, are freely available in Indian market", court was told.

Referring to section 69 A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, court has been told that union of India has power to issue direction for blocking public access of any information through any computer resource, but the issue of watching pornography is not effectively addressed.

The petitioner, one BL Jain strongly believes that most of the crimes against women/ girls/ children like gang rape and sexual assault are definitely fueled by watching pornography. Excessive use of pornography is associated with psychological distress, inter personal isolation, family problems, vocational problems and legal consequences, the plea adds.

"Over 47% students discuss porn every day, says a public-school survey by MAX Hospital in daily. Porn tops the list of cyber crime of India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, increase waive connectivity has had the same impact of porn as it has in the west – a proliferation of amateur videos....pornography leads to addiction, escalation, desensitization and acting out sexually. The pornography provides a powerful sexual stimulant or aphrodisiacs effect. Over time addicts require more explosive and deviant material to meet their sexual needs," the petition states.

It has further been argued that easy access to porn videos in internet and mobile phones also contribute to growing incidents of child rape in the society. "According to experts and social activists, easy availability of pornographic material in various form leads to mental and social degradation. After watching these videos, emotionally weak people are aroused physiologically who tend to find younger preys, who belongs the most venerable groups that could be easily cheated. These videos lead to psychological disorders among some individuals arousing the urge sex and committing some act of heinous act of rape.", the petition submits.

Case Title: BL Jain vs. Union of India

Hearing Date: July 13, 2026

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana