The DPS MMS Scandal erupted in 2004, when a private video involving two Class XI students of Delhi Public School, RK Puram, was circulated through mobile phones and later uploaded on the internet. At a time when mobile videos were grainy, screens were low-resolution and data transfer was slow, the 2-minute-37-second clip became one of the earliest incidents to show how quickly private content could spread online and remain difficult to erase.
The case also exposed the darker side of the newly emerging Multimedia Messaging Service, or MMS, technology. The boy had recorded the video on a mobile phone equipped with MMS, which was then among the few ways to transfer audio-visual content between phones. Once circulated, the clip was eventually uploaded online, copied and stored across the internet.
DPS MMS Scandal sparks police probe after online auction claim
No FIR was initially registered against anyone for making or sharing the video. The controversy took a new turn on December 9, 2004, when Delhi-based tabloid Today published an article by writer Anupam Thapa claiming that online trading website Baazee.com had listed the clip for auction.
The article stated: “India’s biggest online trading portal baazee.com had listed the said MMS clip under the title ‘DPS girls having fun’ with the member ID of 27877408.” A police investigation later found that Alice Electronics of Kharagpur, West Bengal, had sold eight copies of the clip since November 27, 2004.
DPS MMS Scandal reaches Delhi Police and the High Court
Delhi Police commissioner took cognisance of the newspaper report and ordered the Crime Branch to register a case and investigate. The case was registered at Hauz Khas Police Station.
Avnish Bajaj, then CEO of Baazee.com, was later summoned by the Delhi High Court over the listing under Sections 67 and 85 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Bajaj, who subsequently sold the company to eBay Pvt. Ltd., argued that merely listing the material could not be treated as a crime under the IT Act. The matter remains sub-judice.
DPS MMS Scandal changes how India viewed mobile phones and privacy
The episode became a landmark moment in India’s early internet era. The DPS MMS Scandal helped make MMS almost synonymous with leaked private videos, while also highlighting how technology could turn a personal recording into material that could be copied and circulated indefinitely.
The controversy also found its way into popular culture. Bollywood produced several films on or around the issue, including Dev D, Love Sex Aur Dhokha, Ragini MMS and I Don’t Luv You. The crime series Gumrah: End of Innocence also featured an episode based on the issue.
More than two decades later, the DPS MMS Scandal remains a grim reminder of how the arrival of camera phones and mobile internet changed privacy forever.
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Khalid Lateef is a Sub-Editor at NewsX Digital, specializing in Indian politics and global affairs. He also covers viral trending stories and major crime developments.
