Police action smacks of moral policing

Police action smacks of moral policing

Manoj Mitta | TNN


New Delhi: Moral policing was visible once again in Karnataka — and this time, it was the cops who were indulging in it — as over the 100 young partygoers in Bangalore suffered the mortification of spending a night in police custody.
In a fresh blow to India’s claims to being a liberal democracy, these revellers were subjected on Sunday to blood and urine tests even after the police had not found a trace of narcotic drugs or any other evidence of drug consumption at the venue.
The attempt to nail them on the charge of obscenity smacks of highhandedness. For Sec 294 IPC, which imposes imprisonment up to three months, applies only when somebody “does any obscene act in any public place” or “sings, recites or utters any obscene songs, ballad or words, in or near any public place.”
Even if those partygoers are found to have rented the farmhouse, it is debatable whether the party falls into the category of a public place. The police can’t barge into a private party and haul up people.
The police rounded up all partygoers under Section 36 of the Karnataka Excise Act dealing with illegal sale of liquor. Though the charge of illegal sale can normally be made only against the organizer or host, the police arrested guests as well on the ground that it was a contributory party where all of them had paid for the liquor.