"Wearing Short Skirt, Dancing Provocatively Is Not Obscene": Bombay HC

In a recent verdict, the Bombay High Court observed that wearing short skirts, dancing provocatively, or making gestures cannot be considered obscene acts according to Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Nagpur bench of the high court made this remark while quashing an FIR report filed against five individuals, booking them for watching a dance performance by women in short clothes and showering fake currency notes on them as they danced.

Bombay HC On Wearing Short Clothing

A two-judge division bench consisting of Justice Vinay Joshi and Justice Valmiki Sa Menezes said that it is mindful of the general norms of morality prevalent in Indian society. However, it has now become quite common and acceptable for women to wear swimming costumes or revealing attire.

The Bombay High Court said that wearing short skirts, dancing provocatively, or making gestures are considered obscene and cannot be termed to be per se obscene acts that would cause annoyance to the public.

Elaborating on its remark, the court observes that we often see this kind of dressing in films that pass censorship or at beauty pageants held in broad public view without causing any annoyance to the public. The court said it is unable to countenance a situation where the acts referred to in the FIR would be judged by a police officer who, in his opinion, would consider them obscene acts to cause annoyance to the public.

Further, the court stated that taking a narrow view of what acts constitute obscenity would be a retrograde act on its part, adding that I would prefer to take a progressive view in the matter rather than leave such a decision in the hands of the police officials.

The prosecution said that police conducted a raid at a banquet hall in Tirkhura’s Tiger Paradise Resort and water park in Nagpur district, where they found six women dressed in short clothes and dancing provocatively, making obscene gestures.

Five of the customers who were booked for witnessing the performance moved to court to quash the FIR.

The court noted that the complaint didn’t state that any specific person felt a sense of annoyance. Also, since the ingredients of an offence under Section 294 were not found in the FIR, it was quashed by the court.

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