The Bangalore police arrested 101 young people, including 37 foreigners, violating the Karnataka Excise Act for illegal sale of liquor. They were arrested from a place on the outskirts of the city.
That, of course, can be a valid charge. However, the police also booked them for obscene acts and songs in a public place.
This is where it gets interesting. Obscene acts? At a private farmhouse party?
From the Times of India: [Link]
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.
