High Court · 2025

Petition under section 52g of BNSS, praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminar'peitition,the nigh court;;y oe ql-"e"d to stay of arr further proceedings in crime 44s ot 2023 i-n pRc tto.sb ot 2023 of PS Hayathnagar on the fire or itv Root Judiciar Magistrate or rirsiCLss ?!lqygllrgqur, Rangareddy- District, registered the case igainst the petitioner 370 A (2) oF IPC and Sec 3, 4, 5 oF Frevention of rmmolr or tranicLinj act 1956 pending against the petitioner/Accused No.3; This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal ee1ltlon and up6n' hearing the arguments of Sri POTHAMSHETTI MANOJ KUMAR ,Advocate for the petitioner Ind Sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, Addl. public prosecutor on behalf of the Respondent; The Court made the following ORDER: THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE JUWADI SRIDEVI CRIMINAL PETITIO N No.1647 ol 2O25 ORDER This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of the Bhaiatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023 (for short 'BNSS') by the tretitioner- accused No.3 to quash the proceedings against him in P.R Cl.No 30 of 2023 pending on the file of the learned XIV Additional Judicial t\ilagistrate of First Class at Hayathnagar, Ranga Reddy Dislrict- The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Seclion 371(AX2) of the lndian Penal Code (for short 'lPC') and Sections 3, 4 an'j 5 of the lmmoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 'l 956 (for short 'the Act').

02. Heard Sri Pothamshetti l\/anoj Kumar, learned ccunsel for petitioner and Sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State-respondeni No.1 and perused the recrlrd.

03. ln brief the case of the prosecution is that the Police, Hayathnagar Police Station received credible information about running of brothel house and raided the premises at H.No.4-7-17711 , F'lot No.01, backside of Captain Cook Restaurant, Anand Nagar, Hayathnagar, and found that accused No.1 was organizing brothel house and cetitioner- accused No.3 is the customer of the said brothel house.

04. Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the woman who was found with the petitioner-accused No.3 is not a trafficked woman 2 and petitioner is nothing to do with the alleged offences. The ingredients of the offence under Section 370(AX2) of rpc 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 petitioner

05. Learned Additionar pubric prosecutor for the state submitted that there are specific ailegations against the petitioner 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 lpC: "370. Trafficking of a person: (1)Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, (a) recruits, (b) transports, (c) harbours, (d) transfers, or (e) receives, a person or persons, by- Firstl using threats, or Second/ Thirdl using force, or any other form of coercion, by abduction, or by practising fraud, or deception, or Fourthl Fifthlv- by abuse of power, or by inducement, including the giving or Sixthl receiving of payments or benefits, in order to achieve the consent of any person having control over the / 3 person recruited, transported, harboured, transferred or receivecl, commits the offence of trafficking. Explanation 1- The expression "exPloitation" sltall 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 immate'ial in determination of the offence of trafficking. @)Whoever commits the offence of trafficking shall be punished 'ruith rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which n.tay extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. (!)Where the offence involves the trafficking of m lre than one person, it shall be punishable with rigorr.rus imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than :en years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. @Where the offence involves the trafficking of a miror, 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 also be liable to fine. (flWhere the offence involves the trafficking of m,)re 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. (Qllf a person is convicted of the offence of trafficking of minor on more than one occasion, then such pers;on shall be pr.rnished with imprisonment for life, which s\all 4 mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person,s naturat tife, and shall also be liable to fine. (!)When a public servant or a police officer is involved in the trafficking of any person then, such public seryant or police officer 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."

07. Section 370(4) of lpC reads as under: Exploitation of a trafficked person: (llWhoever, knowingly or having reason to believe that a minor has been trafficked, 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. (!)\Nhoever, knowingly by or having reason to believe that a person has been trafficked, engages such person for sexual exploitation in any manner, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be Iess than three years, but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine.

07. As per Sections 370 and 370(4) of lpC, any person by using threat or Jorce 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'. ln the present case, even according to the prosecution, LW9-victim stated that she was doing prostitution for the sake of money. I I i 5 OB Now coming to Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act. the provisions tn detail are extracteo below: for keepinq a brothel or allowi 3 Punishment oremises to be usedas a brothel. (l,lAny person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or management of, a brothel shall be punishable on first conviction with rigoro us imprisonment for a term of not less than one year atrd 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 ard not more than five years and also with fine which may extend b two thousand ruPees. (!-)Any person who- @,,lbeing 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 therr,rof as a brothel, or (!,,lbeing the owner, lessor or landlord of any premises or the agent of such owner, lessor or landlord, lets the same or any part thereof with the knowledge that the same 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 n ay extend to two years and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second or I 6 a subsequent conviction, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine. BlNotwithstanding 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 any 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. Punishment for prostitution. (/lAny 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. livinq on the earninqs of (!)Vtlhere any person is proved- /a,lto be living with, or to be habitually in the company of, a prostitute; or t/b,lto 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 /clto be acting as a tout or pimp on behalf of a prostitute, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such person is knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution of another person within the / / J... 1 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 bel'rw the age of eighteen Years. 5. Procurino, inducinq or takin ct woman or qirl tor the sake of prostitution. (llAny person who- (g,lprocures or attempts to procure a woman or girl. whether with or without her consent, for the purpose of prostitution, or (O,,linduces 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 (c)takes or attempts to take a woman or girl, or causes a woman or girl to be taken, from one place to anotlrer with a view to her carrying on, or being brought up to carry on prostitution; or /d]causes or induces a woman or girl to carry on prostitutior; shall be punishable on first convictton tt'ith rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than cne year and not more than two years and also with f ne which may extend to two thousand rupees. @)ln 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 rtot less than two years and not more than five years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand ru pees. (3)An offence under this section shall be triable- 8 (- 14lin 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.

09. The Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act deals with regard to punishment for keeping a brother or ailowing premises to be used as a brothel, punishment for riving on the earnings of prostitution; punishment for procuring, inducing or taking woman or girl for the sake of prostitution. There is no allegation against the petitioner that he is running brothel, or he is living on the earnings of prostitution, or he procured girl for doing prostitution. ln the present case on hand, as per the case of prosecution, the sore alregation against petitioner-accused No.3 is that he is the customer. Therefore, the allegation against the petitioner does not constitute the offences under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act.

10. As seen from the entire case record, the victim joined brothel house and given her 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 porice could not putforth any material to substantiate that the petitioner had / / 9 knowledge and/or the reason to believe that the woman was trafficked for the purpose of prostitution. Therefore, the ingredients required for constituting the ,cffence under Section 370(AX2) of IPC are not made out against the petitioner.

11. ln view of the above discussion and having considere,d the fact that the petitioner- accused No.3 had no knowledge that the woman was trafficked for the purpose of prostitution, this Court is of the ccnsidered view that the continuation of the proceedings against the petitioner- accused No.3 amounts to abuse of process of law, there:for,e, the proceedings against the petitioner-accused No.3 is liable to be quashed

12. Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is allowed and the proceedings against the petitioner-accused No.3 in P.R.C No.30 of 2023 pending on the file of the learned XIV Additiona Judicial Magistrate of First Class at Hayathnagar, Ranga Reddy Dirstrict, are hereby quashed As a sequel, pending miscellaneous applications, if ilny, shall stand closed. ,/TRUE COPY/' Sd/. M ASSISTANT OHD. ISMAIL REGISTRAR ' \ v sEcrtoNoFFlcER To, Hayath tagar r The XXIV Addr l"Ietropolitan tvlagistrate' !V!er3OLO-at i i'i"'dii;". ;",,'" on'"*$j1iffi S,'-,itr$:133q* q911,,91 l. *:33J:"Hj,iPJ5$'StbLiioR' rtigt, court at ir.ijeraua] tourl q.

5. Two CD CoPies I I HIGH COURT DATED:0610212025 .'f r ! .-- \. k 11 lpB Ztr6 c J ,* ( J I I / r rr^ lri ORDER CRLP.No.1647 of 2025 ALLOWING THE CRIMINAL PETITION $ b