The Hicklin Test is a legal standard used to determine obscenity, originating from the English case R v. Hicklin in 1868. Under this test, material is considered obscene if it has the tendency to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences. This test was adopted by the Indian Supreme Court in various cases, notably in Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra (1965), where the court upheld the conviction of a bookseller for selling Lady Chatterley’s Lover, citing that the book's content could corrupt readers.
Application of the Hicklin Test in Indian Context
1. Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra:
- The Supreme Court applied the Hicklin Test to determine whether Lady Chatterley’s Lover was obscene under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court ruled that the book's content could corrupt those who were likely to read it, thus justifying its classification as obscene.
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