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(2) A little while from now, I will revert to some of the women and men in his life. I will have to, since Neelam Mahajan Singh feels that some of the passages in the book have the tendency to deprave the character of the persons in whose hands the book is likely to fall and that the writer had discussed sex in a manner which, according to her, is offensive to public decency and morality and likely to "pander to lascivious prurient or sexually precocious mind." She also feels that Khushwant Singh has played with the "'Chastity and dignity" of some of the persons who are dead. Hence this writ petition for banning of the book, seizure of its remaining print order and for direction to the Commissioner of Police for registration of case under sections 292, 509 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

AND proceeded to observe that : "WHERE obscenity and art are mixed, art must be so preponderating as lo throw the obscenity into a shadow or the obscenity so trivial and insignificant that it can have no effect and may be overlooked. In other words, treating with sex in a manner offensive to public decency and morality (and these are the words of our Fundamental Law), judged of by our National standards and considered likely to pander to lascivious, prurient or sexually precocious minds, must determine the result. We need not attempt to bowdlerize all literate and thus rob speech and expression of freedom. A balance should be maintained between freedom of speech and expression and public decency and morality but when the latter is substantially transgressed the former must give way".

15.And the jury duly acquitted.

(16) It is not that the Supreme Court alone has deviated from the rigours of the Hicklin test. The legislature too has intervened by amending section 292 of the Indian Penal Code. This amendment was carried out in the year 1969 by the Amendment Act 36 of 1969 and what is of significance is that all the three judgments of the Supreme Court referred to above relate to the period before the said amendment.

(17) After the amendment, sub-section (1) of section 292 took the following shape : "292(1).For the purpose of sub-section (2), a book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest of if its effect, or (where it comprise two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it."

(18) Thus a book shall be deemed obscene if (a) it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or (b) if its comprises of two or where it comprises of two or more distinct items, the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who arc likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read the matter contained in it. The words "if taken as a whole" arc of significance and show a departure from the earlier approach. "THE Women & Men in My Life" as a whole and so also the passages under attack have thus to be judged keeping in view not only the present day literary trends and standards but the present day popular permissiveness as well. The book is not a novel. It contains biographical narratives highlighting certain facets and characteristics of the individuals under examination. In dissecting them Khushwant Singh neither displays charity nor compassion. Rather, at places, he vents his scorn. It is also to be remembered that although it is frequently proclaimed that man is a rational creature, many of the things that human beings do could hardly be so characterised. The women and men in Khushwant Singh's Life are no different. By focussing on their behaviour he reveals their distinctive qualities. Here is Devyani Chaubal bold, brave and full of laughter, and yet what she wrote could be "malicious" and "very bitchy". Here is Indrani Aikath Gyaltsen a woman with all the comforts of life available at her elbow and yet so impatient for fame and money that she does not mind adopting even plagiarism as a ready tool to achieve her goal. His Amrita Shergil believes in sexual athleticism and treats sex as a battleground. She is the seducer, mad with sexuality and probably never satisfied. Meet his I.S. Johar, a sick and frightened man. His is the sexual expression of the boredom and depression in which his private and professional life had so sadly saturated. His autobiographical passages etc. are a pathetic attempt to provide a mask for the failures that were central to his life.