Consumption of pornography on a personal device is frowned upon by neither the Victorian-vintage Indian Penal Code ( IPC) nor the 21st Century legislation on Information Technology (IT).

Both laws, separated by over 130 years, are unsparing towards the producer or supplier of obscene material. But when it comes to the consumer, neither law offers any scope to the police to make out even the lesser charge of abetting the alleged crime of obscenity.

The IT Act does, however, make the end user liable if it can be shown that he had more than just consumed pornography. The consumer would fall foul of the IT Act if he had shared the video with others. The three provisions relating to pornography forbid not just publishing but also transmitting.