The High Court · 2025

...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANTS Petition under Section 52B.of BNSS of Cr.p.C praying that in ihe circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds or irimina'i petifion, irre !ltg! lourt may be pleased..to quash the proceedings against the petitioners in l.Rg rr 122 of 2024, pending on the frle of x Raaitiona't Judicial rrrrrgl.iiri" First Class, Ranga Reddy District, at Kukatpally. "f l.A. NO: 2 OF 2O25 Petition under section 52g of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminai petition,the High court r"v o" ple,ased to stay of a[ further proceedings against the petitioners ri pnc ruo ti2 ot 2024, pending on the fire of xth Additionar Judiciar Magistrate ot rirsi ctass, Ranga Reddy District, at Kukatpaily, pending disposar of the above cririn"r petition. This Petition coming on for hearing,upon perusing the fMemorandum of Grounds of criminar petition and upon hearing the arguments of sri pRAVEEN KUMAR VEERJALA ,Advocate for the petitioners and sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla Additional pubric prosecutor on beharf of the Respondent No..r, The Court made the following: ORDER THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE JITWADI SRIDEVI CRIMINAL PETITION No.1O4O of 2025 ORDER: This Criminal Petition is filed by the petitioners- accused Nos.2 and 3 to quash the proceedings ergainst them in PRC No. 122 of 2024 pending on the file of the learned X Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Rangareddy District at Kukatpally. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Section 370(A)(2) of the Indian Penal Code (for short 'IPC') and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Immora-l Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (for short the ActJ

02. Heard Sri Praveen Kumar Veerjala, learned counsel for petitioners and Sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.

03. In brief, the case of the prosecution is that the Police, received credible information about running of brothel house and raided the premises at Nest Marigold Hotel, Vinayaka Nagar, Gachibowli, Serilingampally Mandal, Rangareddy District, and found that accused No.1 was 2 orgarrizing brothel house and petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3 are the customers of the said brothel house.

04. Learned counsel for petitioners submitted that the woman who was found with petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3, is not a trafficked woman and petitioners a-re nothing to do with the alleged offences. The ingredients of the offence under Section 370(4.)(2) of IPC and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act does not attract to the present case on hand. Thereby, he prayed to quash the criminal proceedings against the petitioners.

05. Learned Additiona,l Public Prosecutor for the State submitted that there are specific allegations against the petitioners and the truth or otherwise would come out only after conducting full-fledged trial by the concerned Court below and prayed to dismiss this Criminal Petition'

06. In view of the above facts and circumstances of the case, it is relevant to extract the provision under Section 370 of IPC: "37O. Trafficking of a Person: (l)Whoever, )- Lhe purpose of exploitation, (a) recruits, (b) I 3 transports, (c) harbours, (d) transfers, or (e) receives, a person or persons, by- Firstlu- using threats, or Second.l using force, or any other form of coercion, or by abduction, or by practising fraud, or deception, or Third. Fourthl Fifthlv- by abuse ofpower, or Stxthl by inducement, including the girring or receiving of payments or benefits, in order to achieve the consent of aly person having control over the person recruited, transported, harboured, transferred or received, commits the offence of trafficking. Explano,tion I- The expression "exploitation" shall include any act of physical exploitation or any form of sexual exploitation, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the forced removal of organs. Explanation 2- The consent of the victim is in determination of the olfen ce of immaterial trafficking. @p'lhoever commits the offence of trafficking shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. [9/Where the offence involves the trafficking of more than one person, it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not 4 be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. (l['linere the offence involves the trafficking of a minor, it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall a-lso be liable to fine. lS/Where the offence involves the trafficking of more than one minor, it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than fourteen years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. (6If a person is convicted of the offence of trafficking of minor on more than one occasion, then such person shall be punished with imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and shall also be liable to fine. llfMinen a public servant or a police officer is involved in the trafficking of any person then, such public servant or police officer shall be punished with imprisonment for life, which sha1l mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and sha1l also be liable to fine."

07. Section 370(.4.) of IPC reads as under: I Exploitation of a trqf.ficked persort'. fI,fWhoever, knowingly or having reason to believe that a minor has been tra-fficked, engages such minor for sexual exploitation in any manner, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. @fffhoever, knowingly by or having reason to believe that a person has been tra-fficked, engages such person for sexual exploitation in any manner, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years, but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to line.

08. As per Sections 37O and 370(A) of IPC, any person by using threat or force or any form of coercion or abduction by practicing fraud or deception or by abusing of power or by inducing can only be termed as a 'trafficked person'. In the present case, even according to the prosecution, LW6 and 7-victims stated that they are doing prostitution for the sake of money.

09. Now coming to Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act, the provisions in detail are extracted below: \ 6

3. Punishment for keepinq @ brothel or qllowing p remises to be used as a brotheL l!)Any person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or managernent of, a brothel shall be punishable on first conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less thal one year and not more than three years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than five years and also with fine which rlay extend to two thousand rupees. l2)Any person who- (g[being the tenant, lessee, occupier or person in charge of any premises, uses, or knowingly allows any other person to sue, such premises or any part thereof as a brothel, or plbeing the owner, lessor or landlord of any premises or the agent of such owner, lessor or landlord, lets the sarne or any part thereof with the knowledge that the sarne or any part thereof is intended to be used as a brothel, or is wilfully a party to the use of such premises or any part thereof as a brothel. Shall be punishable on first conviction with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with rigorous I G! 7 imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine. l9lNotwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, on conviction of any person referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (2) of any offence under that sub- section in respect of arry premises or any part thereof, any lease or agreement under which such premises have been leased out or are held or occupied at the time of the commission of the offence, shall become void and inoperative with effect from the date of the said conviction. 4. Punlshment for liuinq on the eo;fir'ings of prostitrttlon. /l.],Any person over the age of eighteen years who knowingly lives, wholly or in part, on the earnings of the prostitution of a woman or girl shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both. @$llcere any person is proved- /glto be iiving with, or to be habitually in the company of, a prostitute; or @fto have exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show that such person is aiding, abetting or compelling her prostitution; or /gfto be acting as a tout or pimp on behalf of a prostitute, it shall be presumed, until the contraq/ is proved, that such person is knowingly living on ( \ 8 the earnings of prostitution of another person within the meaning of sub-section (1):Provided that no such presumption shall be drawn in the case of a son or daughter of a prostitute, if the son or daughter is below the age of eighteen years. 5. Procurinq. inducinq or taktncl u)ofitan or qirl for the sake of prostittttion. lilAny person who- /qlprocures or attempts to procure a womarl or girl, whether with or without her consent, for the purpose of prostitution; or @.,finduces a woman or girl to go from any place, with the intent that she may for the purpose of prostitution become the inmate of, or frequent, a brothel; or 'attempts to take a woman or girl, or /qrtakes or causes a woman or girl to be taken, from one piace to another with a view to her carrying on, or being brought up to carry on prostitution; or ftlfcauses or induces a woinan or girl to carry on prostitution;shall be punishable on first conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and also with line which may extend to two thousand rupees. [2It the event of a second or subsequent conviction of an offence under this section a person shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not iess than two years { ( I 9 1 arrd not more than five years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. /QAn offence under this section shall be triable- (g)tn the place from which a woman or girl is procured, induced to go, taken or caused to be taken or from which an attempt to procure or take such woman or girl is made; or @)in the place to which she may have gone as a result of the inducement or to which she is taken or caused to be taken or an attempt to take her is made.

10. The Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act deals with regard to punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel, punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution; punishment for procuring, inducing or taking woman or girt for the sake of prostitution. There are no allegations against the petitioners that they are running brothel, or they are riving on the earnings of prostitution, or they procured girl for doing prostitution. In the present case on hand, as per the case of prosecution, the sole allegation against the petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3 is that they are the customers. Therefore, the allegation against the petitioners l-!it 10 does not constitute the offences under Sections 3, 4 ald 5 of the Act. 1 1. As seen from the entire case record, the victims joined brothel house and given their willingness to do sex with the customers. Furthermore, at the stage of filing of the FIR or during the course of investigation or through the averments of the charge sheet, the Police could not putforth any material to substantiate that the petitioners had knowledge and,lor the reason to believe that the women were trafficked for the purpose of prostitution' Therefore, the ingredients required for constituting the offence under Section 370(A)(2) of IPC are not made out against the petitioners.

12. In view of the above discussion and having considered the fact that the petitioners-accused Nos'2 and 3 had no knowledge that the women were traflicked for the purpose of prostitution, this Court is of ttle considered view that the continuation of the proceedings against the petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3 amounts to abuse of 11 process of law, therefore, the proceedings against the petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3 are liable to be quashed.

13. Accordingly, this Criminal petition is allowed. and the proceedings against the petitioners-accused Nos.2 and 3 in PRC No.122 of 2024 pending on the file of the learned X Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Rangareddy District at Kukatpally, are hereby quashed. As a sequel, pending miscellaneous appJications, if any, shall stand closed. //TRUE COPY// Sd/- L. VIJAYA LAXMI ASSISTANT REGISTRAR SEC N OFFICER \ To, 1 . The X Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Ranga Reddy District at Kukatpally.

2. The Station House Officer , Gachbowli Police Station, Ranga Reddy Diskict. 3. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana, Hyderabad.(OUT)

4. One CC to SRI. PRAVEEN KUMAR VEERJALA, Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two CD Copies 6)o l'V2 r \,-/y zaJ i i I i I i I i I L HIGH COURT DATED:291O112025 ORDER CRL.PETITION No.1040 of 2025 SEt\1 TA r4r ,J 0 5 FEB 2025 z * spAl * o ALLOWING TFIE CRI-,PF. III'ION