HC recommends regulator to prohibit obscenity on Internet

The Madras High Court has ordered notice on a petition seeking a direction to the centre to appoint a reg-ulatory body to prohibit obscene and pornographic material on the internet and penalise internet service providers (ISPs) and search engine companies for violation of licence conditions.

Issuing the notice on the PIL filed by an advocate R Karthikeyan the First Bench comprising the Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Justice D Murugesan posted the matter for hearing on November 4.

The petitioner alleged that though ISPs were prohibited from disseminating any obscene material, they violated the condition for monetary gains in utter disregard to the moral and psychological well being of internet users. Though the Centre had knowledge of these violation, it closed its eyes, the petitioner claimed contending that there was no prosecution of the offenders.

Stating that he had lodged a complaint with the city police, through the Tamil Nadu police website, he said the reply from the police was that the issue was a nation-wide and inter-State crime, implying that they could not do much in the matter.

Claiming that he had provided sufficient material and evidence to police, he said that in reply to a query under the Right to Information Act seeking to know the action taken on his complaint he was informed that the Cyber Crime Cell had been exempted from the Act.