The High Court · 2025

1 The State of Telangana., Represented by its public prosecutor, High Court - -- - Buildings, Hyderabad. through S.H.O., p.S..Kukatpaily, CyOeriOid. 2 The State Police, through Sri K. Bhanu prasad, Sub lnspector of police, Kukatpally Police Station, Cyberabad. ...Respondent No.1 ...Respondent No.2/De-facto Complainant Petition under Section 528 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminal petition, the High court may be pleased to quash the proceedings against petitioners/accused Nos.B and 9 rn P. R C,No. 18B of 2023 on the fire of the Honourabre Xil Additionar Judiciar Magistrate of First Class, at Kukatpally. l.A. NO: 2 OF 2025 Petition under Section 482 of cr.p.c praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminar petition,the High court may be pleased to stay all further proceedings against petitioners/accused Nos.g and g in P R.c-No.'l88 of 2023 on the file of the Honourable Xll Additional Judiciar i I i" Magistrate of First crass, at Kukatpaly, pending disposar of the above criminar petition and pass This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the lvlemorandum of Grounds of criminar petition and upon hearing the arguments of Ms. Nageshwar Rao Pujari, Advocate for the petitioner and the sri Jithender Rao Veeramafla, Additional Public prosecutor on behalf of the Respondents. The Court made the following: ORDER THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE JIIWADI SRIDEVI CRIMINAL PETITION No.2 24O of2o25 ORDER: This Criminal Petition is liled under Section 528 the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'BNSSJ by petitioners-accused Nos.B and 9 to quash the proceedings against them in P.R.C. No. 188 of 2023 on the file of the learned XII Additiona_l Judicial Magistrate of First Class, at Kukatpally. The offences alteged dgainst petitioners are under Section 37O(A)l2l of the Indian penal Code (for short 'IPC') and Sections 3, 4 arrd 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (for short 'the Act').

02. Heard Ms.Nageshwar Rao Pujari, learned counsel for petitioner and Sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondents and perused the record.

03. In brief, the case of the prosecution is that the Police, Kukatpatly Police Station received credible information about running of brothel house and raided the OYO Laxmi Residency at Moosapet and found accused 2 Nos.l,8 and 9, accused No. 1 is the manager and accused Nos.S arld 9 are customers.

04. Learned counsel for petitioners submitted that th.e women who were found with petitioners_accused Nos.g and 9 are not trafficked women and petitioners are 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 petitioners-accused Nos.g and 9.

05. Learned Additional public prosecutor for the State submitted that there are specirrc allegations against petitioners and the truth or otherwise would come out only after conducting full-fledged triar 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: J 3 "37O. Trafficking of a Person: (l)Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, (a) recruits, (b) transports, (c) harbours, (d) transfers, or (e) receives, a person or persons, by- Firstl Secondl using force, or any other form of using threats, or coercron, or Thirdl Fourthl by abduction, or by practising fraud, or deception, Fifthlu- by abuse ofpower, or by inducement, including the giving or receiving of payments or benehts, in order to achieve the consent of any person having control over the person recruited, transported, harboured, transferred or received, commits the offence of trafficking. Explqnation 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. Explcrnation 2- ^fhe consent of the victim is immaterial in determination of the offence of trafficking. pfWhoever commits the offence of trafhcking sha-ll be punished with rigorous imprisonment l i for a term which shall not be less than seven yezrs, but which may extend to ten ),ea_rs, a11d shall also be liabte to fine. [9,fWhere the offence involves the trafficking of more than one person, 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 sha_ll also be liable to hne. (llWhere the offence involves the trafficking of a minor, it shail be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which sha-ll not be less than ten years, but which may extend tO imprisr.rnment for life, and shall also be tiable to fine lS,fWhere the olfence involves the trafficking of more than one minor, it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which than fourteen years to imprison-.rt fo. n ot be less may extend and shall also be liable to fine. (6)If a person is convicted of the offence of trafhcking 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 sha.ll life, 5 person's natural life, and sha-ll a-lso be liable to hne. (![Nh.en 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 sha-lI also be liable to hne."

07. Section 370(,{) of IPC reads as under: Exploitation of a tra fficked ll,ersorr,: fffWhoever, knowingly or having reason to believe that a minor has been trafficked, engages such minor for sexual exploitation in any manner, sha,ll be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than hve years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall a-lso be liable to hne. (lfWhoever, knowingly by or having reason to believe that a person has been trafficked, engages such person for sexua,l exploitation in any manner, sha,ll 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(A) of IpC, aly 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 statements of LW2 and S-sex workers, they stated that they were 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:

3. Punishment .for keepins a brothel or allouinq prernises to be used as a brothel. /l],Any person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or management of, a brothel shall be punishable on hrst conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less thal one year and not more than three years ald 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 hve years and also w'ith fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. llAny person who- 7 lqfbeing the tenant, lessee, occupier or person in charge of any premises, lrses, or knowingly allows any other person to sue, such premises or any part thereof as a brothel, or p,fbeing 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 wilfulty a party to the use of such premises or any part thereof as a brothel. Shall be Iirst conviction with punishable on 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. fg,fNotwithstanding 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 (21 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, sha-Il 8 become void and inoperative with effect from the date of the said conviction. 4. Punishment or liuin on the earnin so prostittttion. l7)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. l2[Nhere any person is proved- lglto be living with, or to be habitually in the company of, a prostitute; or Mo 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; /gfto be acting as a tout or pimp on behalf of a prostitute, it sha-ll be presumed, until the contrar5r is proved, that such person is knowingly living on 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 9 or takinq woman or of a son or daughter of a prostitute, if the son or daughter is below the age of eighteen yea-rs' 5. Proctri nq-. induci sirl for the sake of prostittttion. AAny person who- fqlprocures or attempts to procure a woman or girl, whether with or without her consent, for the purpose of prostitution; or @|induces a womar 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 (gftakes or attempts to take a woman or girl, or causes a woman or girl to be taken, from one place to another with a view to her carrying on, or being brought up to carry on prostitution; ftflcauses or induces a woman or girl to carry on prostitution;shall be punishable on hrst conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and also with hne which may extend to two thousand rupees. (Q[n thte event of a second or subsequent conviction of an offence under this section a person sha-ll be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than two 10 years and not more than five years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. [Q,lAn offence under this section shall be triable- (g)rn the place from which a womarl 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 fr)rn tlne 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 premrses 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 petitioners that they are running brothel, or living on the earnings of prostitution, or procured girl for doing prostitution. In the present case on hald, as per the case of prosecution, the sole allegation against petitioners-accused Nos.g and 9 are 11 that they are customers' Therefore' the allegation against petitioners does not constitute the offences under Sections 3, 4 and 5 ofthe Act'

11. As seen from the entire case record' including the statements of the victims recorded under Section 161 of Cr.P.C., discloses that petitioners-accused Nos'8 and 9 are customersandtheyclearlystatedthatduetopovertyand other family backgrounds they joined brothel house and given 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 petitioners-accused Nos'8 and t had knowledge and/or the reason to believe that the women were trafficked for the purpose of prostitution' Therefore' the ingredients required to constitute the offence under Section 37O(A) of IPC is not made out against the petitioners

12. In view of the above discussion and having considered the fact that- the petitioners-accused Nos'8 and 9 I I IZ had no knowledge that the women were trafficked for the purpose of pr<lstitution, this Court is of the considered view that the continuation of the proceedings against petitioners_ accused Nos.B and 9 amounts to abuse of process of law, therefore, the proceedings against the peritioners_accused Nos.8 and 9 are liable to be quashed. 13' Accordingly, this crimina-r petition is alowed and the proceedings against the petitioners-accused Nos.g and 9 in p.R.C. No. lgg of 2023 on the file ol the learned XII Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, at Kukatpally, are hereby quashed. As a sequei, pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shail stand closed //TRUE COPY// Sd/. MOHD, ISMAIL S ANT REGISTRAR A '0 SECTION OFFICER To, '1 . The Xll Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, at Kukatpally. 2. The Station House Officer, Kukatpally Police Station. Cyberabad District. 3. Two CCs to the Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. IOUT] 4 One CC to ttr'ls Nageshwar Rao Pujari, Advocate [OPUC] 5 Two CD Copies 6 I .----..--*'.+<+irtt-. : ---;--i:?!**1ffi--_: HIGH COURT DATED:17102t2025 ORDER CRLP.No.2240 of 2025 IHE sf.q t't: o( o 2 5 iil 2t]25 '( z a }. .a) €Sr,,.1,:,,?-') * ALLOWING THE CRIMINAL PETITION .3 W