Actor and model Milind Usha Soman has been booked for obscenity as he uploaded a photo of himself running in a buff on a beach in South Goa.
South Goa Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kumar Singh confirmed that the actor was booked under section 294 (obscenity) of the Indian Penal Code, along with other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
On November 4, Soman uploaded a photo on Twitter and Instagram, showing himself running naked on the beach of Goa on his 55th birthday. The actor captioned the photo, clicked against a wide expanse of ocean, “Happy Birthday to me…55 and running”. The photo was clicked by her wife Ankita Konwar.
There is no comment from the actor on the FIR against him.
The FIR even comes as Canacona Judicial Magistrate granted bail to model and actress Poonam Pandey, noting that not all nudity amounted to obscenity. The model was arrested on Thursday for shooting an “objectionable” video in Goa.
“It is important to note that when such representation is in pursuance of art, it is an exception. Making of films obviously is an artistic endeavour and even if it was otherwise, determination of the same would be a matter of trial. One cannot, given the facts and circumstances, come to a conclusion that all nudity is obscene,” the magistrate said.
“When it comes to fundamental rights of an individual, which are sacrosanct, especially the right to free speech and expression, which constitutes an essential foundation of a democracy and without which life itself would be meaningless, acting in a video or film, which may be perceived by some as obscene and yet some others may perceive it as artistic, cannot be a ground to jail a person, especially where the acts complained of have been documented on film,” Chief Judicial Magistrate Audi Shanoor said.