The High Court · 2025

stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminal Petition,the High court may to stay all further proceedings in ! I 9, No 123 of 2024 on the file of U" pf theXAdditionalMetropolitantr4agistrate,R.R.DistriCt,atKukatpallyincluding appearance of the Accused No.4; "r.uA This Petition coming on for hearing,upon perusing the tvtemorandum- of Grounds of Crinrinal Petition and upon hLaring the arguments of Sri S RAwI nEooy ,Advocate for the petitionei and sri Jithender Rao veeramalla, Addl. Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Respondents, The Court made the following ORDER: THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE JUWADISRIDEVII CRIMINAL P ETITIO N No.1761 of 2025 ORDER This Criminal petition is filed by the petitioner_accused No.3 to quash the proceedings against him in p.R.C.No 123 of 2024 on the file of the learned X Additional Metropolitan Magistrate, Rangareddy District at Kukatpally. The or nces alleged against the petitioner are under Section 370(4)(2) of the lndian Penal Code (for short ,lpC,) and Sections 3, 4 and lj of.the lmmoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (for short ,the Act,).

02. HearC Sri S. Ram Reddy, learned counsel for petitioner and sri .rithender Rao Veeramafla, rearned Adc]itionar Public Prosecutor fc,r the State.

03. ln brief, the case of the prosecution is that the Police, received credibre information about running of brother house and raided the premises at ,The Sege Wellness Spa, situated at 4th floor, Tirumala Hills Building, Opposite Aparna Tower, Hanuman Nagar, Kondapur and found that the 3c,:)us€d No.2 was organizing brothel house and petitioner_accused Nc.3 is the customer of the said brothel house. ! 2

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

05. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State submitted that there are specific allegations 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. ln view of the above facts and circumstances of the case, it is relevant to extract the provision under Section 370 of IPC: "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- Firstlv- using threats, or Secondl using force, or any other form of coercion, 3 IhtgJy- by abduction, or Fourthl by practising fraud, or deception, or Fiftht by abuse ofpower, or by inducement, including the giving or Sixthl recerving of payments or benefits, in order to achieve the consent of any person having control over the person recruited, transported, harboured, transfr>rred or received, commits the offence of trafficking. Explanation 1- The expression,,exploitation,, shall include any act of physical exploitation or any ibrm of sexual exploitation, slavery or practices similar to , or the forced removal of organl;. i. The consent of the victim is imnraterial servitude tion 2- slaveryr, Explana in determination of the offence of trafficking (!)Whoever commits the offence of trafficking shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but whicf. extend io ten years, and shall also be liable to fine @lWhere the offence involves the trafficking of more than one person, it shall be punishable with rig,crous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years hr.rt which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. @)\Nhere the offence involves the trafficking of a nrinor, it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment lor a term which shall not be less than ten years, but u,hich may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to frne leWhere the offence involves the trafficking of nrore than one minor, it shall be punishable with rigorous 4 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. (Qlf 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. @When 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 shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and shall also be liable to fine'"

07. Section 370(A) of IPC reads as under Exploitation of a tra fficked person (!,lWhoever, 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. @)Whoever, 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 less than three years, but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine' 5

08. As per Sections 370 and 370(4) of lpC, any person by using threat or force or any form of coercion or abrjuction by practicing fraud or deception or by abusing of power or b,y inducing can only be termed as a 'trafficked person,. ln the pres;ent case, even according to the prosecution, the victims were doing prostitution for the sake of money.

09. Now coming to Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act, the provisions in detarl are extracted below: 3 Punishment for keepinq a brotheI or allowinu premises to be used as a brothel. (llAny person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or management of, a brothel st.all be punishable on first conviction with rigorous imprison ment for a term of not less than one year a nd not more than three years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second subsequent conviction, with rigoro ls imprisonment for a term of not less than two years arrd not more than five years and also with fine which miry extend to two thousand rupees. (ZlAny person who- (e,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 therertf as a brothel, or I - ,_-- l- 6 t\ (0,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 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 imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine. (QNotwithstanding 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 for livino on the earninqs of from the date of the said conviction. 4- Punishment prostitution. (!)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. Q)Where any Person is Proved- 1 (4lto be living with, or to be habitually in the company of, a prostitute; or t/b)to have exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show thal such person is aiding, abetting or compelling her prostilution; or (qlto be acting as a tout or pimp on behalf cf a prostitute, it shall be presumed, until the contrarv is proved, ihat such person is knowingly living on the earnings r:f prostitution of another person within the meaning of sub-section (.1 ):provided that no sltch presumption shall be drawn in the case of a son or . . daughter of a prostitute, if the son or daughter is belcw the age or eighteen years. 5. Procurinq. tnducinq or takinq woman or qirl for the sake of prostitution. (!/Any person who- (a,lprocures or attempts to procure a woman or g rl, whether with or without her consent, for the purpose of prostitution or t/blinduces a woman or girl to go from any place, wrth the intent that she may for the purpose of prostitution become the inmate of, or frequent, a brothel; or (Eltakes or attempts to take a woman or girl, or caus€rs a woman or girl to be taken, from one place to anothrtr with a view to her carrying on, or being brought up ro carry on prostitution; or t'd.lcauses or induces a woman or girl to carry o 1 prostitution shall be punishable on first conviction wiflr rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than onr> ^ -.., 8 ( year and not more than two years and also with fine 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 not less than two years and not more than five years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. @lAn offence under this section shall be triable- (4lin 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 (0,lin 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 girl for the sake of prostitution. There are no allegations 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 sole allegation against the petitioner-accused No.3 is that he is the 7 9 customer. Therefr:re, the allegation against the petitioner does not constitute the offences under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act.

11. 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 firing of the FrR or during the course of investigation or through the averments of ther charge sheet, the police could not putforth any material to subs;tantiate that the petitioner had knowledge and/or the reason to belir:ve that the women were trafficked for the purpose of prostitution Therefore, the ingredients required for constituting the offence under Section 370(4)(2) of lpC are not made out against the petitioner ,

12. ln vrew of the above discussion and having considered the fact that the petitioner_accused No.3 had no knowledge that the women were trafficked for the purp,cse of prostitution, this Court is of the considered view that the continuation of the proceedings against the petitioner_ar:;cused No.3 amounts to abuse of process of law, thereforer. the proceedings against the petitioner_accused No.3 are liable to be quashed 10 (

13. Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is allowed and the proceedings against the petitioner-accused No 3 in P.R'C'No'123 of 2024 on the file of the learned X Additional Metropolitan tvlagistrate, Rangareddy District at Kukatpally, are hereby quashed. As a sequel, pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed //TRUE COPY'/ SD/.MOHD.ISMAIL TANT REGISTRAK ASSI EGTI6N OFFTCER To, itriri{ffitirtfhp"tql*q[*i'i;ffi '"" 5. Two CD CoPes VSM/PtPw ddy District bad (OUT) HIGH COURT DATED:0710212025 ORDER CRLP.No.1761 of 20ZS \,^ q 5 o o1. 10 At,ll zu5 o .L * Ol: .- i rr' O ALLOWING THE CRIMINAL PETITION g.rP?"5 Kr- 4-slts