The High Court · 2025

ORDER This C)r rninal Petition is filed by the petitioner-ieccused No.5 to quas r the proceedings against him in P.R.C No 395 of 2023 orr "he file of the learned lll Additic,nal Chief ftIetropolitan \4agistrate at Nampally, Hyderabad The offences alle ted against the petitioner are under l:iections 370, 370(4X2 ) of the lndian Penal Code (for short 'lPC') and 3, 4, 5 of tl',e: 'rrmoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, '195€; (1'or short 'the Act') 02 11 ,ard M/s.Anjaneyulu Chandubatla, learned counsel for 1 etitioner and Sri Jithender Rao Veleramalla, learned Adliti :,nal Public Prosecutor for the State 03 ln rrief, the case of the prosecution is lhat the Police, rec<:iv, r,l credible information about running of brothel house and ra cJed the premises at Maahi Ayurvedic Beauty SPA Salocn situated at Road No.10, Banjarer Hills, Hyderabad a rd found that the accused Nos.1 and 2 were ,l 2 l" \r organizing brothel house and the petitioner-accused No.5 is the customer of the said brothel house.

04. Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the woman who was found with petitioner-accused, is not a trafficked woman and the petitioner is nothing to do with the alleged offences. The ingredients of the offence under Sections 370, 370(AX2) of IPC and 3, 4, 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: (l)Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, (a) recruits, (b) transpotls, (c) harbours, (d) transfers, or (e) receives, a person or persons, by- 3 Firstlv-- rtsing threats, or Seconr// . -- using force, or any other form of cogft.ion, by practising fraud, or deception or Thirdly- '.ty abduction, or Fourth EftttU:- l',.V abuse of power, or Sixthly- by inducement, including the giwng or receiv,r,g if payments or benefits, in order to achieve the cons:,nt of any person having control over the person n cruited, transpofted, harboured, transferred or receiveT, r"cmmits the offence of trafficking. at ion 7 The expression "exploitation" :,;hall .v act of physical exploitation or any torrn of >, ploitation, slavery or practices simila," to trvitude, or the forced removal of organ:;. ion 2- The consent of the victim is imntaterial nation of the offence of trafficking. ir commts the offence of trafficking snall be with rigorous imprisonment for a tenn which tre iess than seven years, but whic\ nay ien years, and shall also be liable to finet lhe offence involves the trafficking o; rnore t-)erson, it shall be punishable with riqorous 1()nt for a term which shall not be /ess tt an ten which may extend to impisonment lor life, include e sexuat ( slaver.r, t Erpbllal in dete,r n (Z)Wht.:, punist e,o shall not extencttc (!)Wh,=,e than c'rte impriso,'u years L'u and st et ll also be liable to fine. (OWhe'e it shal' b' term v rltir 'he offence involves the trafficking of a m:nor, ' ounishable with rigorous imprisonment tor a tt shall not be less than ten years, but which 4 may extend to impisonment for tife, and shall also be liable to fine. (!)Where the offence involves the trafficking of more than one minor, it shall be punisha,ble with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shail not be /ess fhan foufteen years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liabte to fine. (!)lf 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 shatt mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person,s natural life, and shall also be tiable to fine. Q)When a public seruant or a police officer is invotved in the trafficking of any person then, such public servant or police officer shall be punished with impisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and shalt also be liable to fine."

07. Section 370(4) of lpC reads as under Exploitation of a trafficked person (l)Whoever, knowingty or having reason to believe that a minoi has been trafficked, engages such minor for sexual exploitation in any manner, shalt be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shail not be /ess fhan five years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. (!)Whoever, knowingly by or having reasbn to believe that a person has been trafficked, engages such person for sexual exploitation in any manner, shail be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shail not be 5 /ess thar three years, but which may extend to five years, iit :! shall also be liable to fine. 08 As per Sections 370 and 370(A) of lPC, any person by us-rg threat or force or any form of coercion or abduction bv rracticing fraud or deception or by abLrsing of power or b!)' nducing can only be termed as a 'trilfficked person'. lrr he present case, even accordinS; to the prosecutior, t re victim was doing prostitution for the:sake of 09 I'l< lv coming to Sections 3, 4, 5 of the l\ct, the provisions in c etail are extracted below 3 Puni hment for keepinq a brothel or allo premt9ie:; to be used as a brothel. AAnv 1 assisfs lr be FL'n im prisc n erson who keeps or manages, or act:; or the keeping or management of, a brothel .;hall s;hable on first conviction wth rrycrous rtent for a term of nof /ess than one ye'ar and than three years and also with fine which may t two thousand rupees and in the event of a )r subsequent conviction, with ngcrous rtent for a term of not /ess than two years and not m)re extend t seoonc im prisc n not mcr( lhan five years and also with fine which may extend tr |wo thousand rupees. (!)Anv P t.son who- 6 (e)being the tenant, /essee, occupier or person in charge of any premises, uses, or knowingly allows any other person to sue, such premises or any paft thereof as'a brothel, or (b)being the owner, /essor 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 paft 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 o)r subsequent conviction, with rigorous impisonment for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine. (!)Notwithstanding 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 /eased 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 livinqo n the earninqs of prostitution. AAny person over the age of eighteen years who knowingly lives, wholly or in paft, 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, 1 ,; which may extend to one thousand rupees, ttt. 2ny person is proved- i,ing with, or to be habitually in the comtr'any ' tute; or . exercised control, direction or influenc'e over rnents of a prostitute in such a manne' e's to such person is aiding, abetting or compelling 't.ttion; or ,acting as a tout or pimp on behalr of a it shall be presumed, until the contraty is Lt,at such person is knowingly li,ring on the '.f prostitution of another persott 11v17ltin the L>f sub-section (1):Provided that nc :,;uch ' tn shall be drawn in the case of a so,t or Ltf a prostitute, if the son or daughter is bt>low r eighteen years. ,inq. inducinq or takinq woman or qirl for or witlr fi, or witt 5r (!)Where (a)to ltt: of, a pnts (b)to lrav the mo r show lha her pnt.st (p)to be> prostitute proved, e arn ing s meanit g presutnp daughbr the age c

5. Pro<:u the salre of prostitution. (!)Any ct , son who- ;s or attempts to procure a woman tr girl, vith or without her consent, for the purFos;e of rl: or !. a woman or girl to go from any place, with ihat she may for the purpose of prctstitt.,tion -,e inmate of, or frequent, a brothel, or tr attempts to take a woman or girl, or carlses ')r girl to be taken, from one place to anc'ther '.v to her carrying on, or being broughr uc to ',.ostitution; or (a)pro; tr whethe' prostitutiL (p)ind,t,:< the inie,n becc>nre:, (c)take:; a wofitar with a ri carry ()t) t 8 /d)causes or induces a woman or girt to carry on prostitution;shall be punishable on first conviction with igorous imprisonment for a term of not less than one ye'ar and not more than two years and atso with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. (2)ln the event of a second or subsequent conviction of an offence under this section a person shatt 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. (!),An offence under this section shall be triable- (a)in 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 (L)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, 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 9 for doing prcs itution. ln the present case on hanrJ, as per the case of 1 r'osecution, the sole allegation agiairrst the petitioner-ac'c;u ;ed No.5 is that he is the customer. Therefore. 'he allegation against the petitioner clor;s not constitute the r ffences under Sections 3, 4, 5 of the Ac.:

11. t\:; seen from the entire case record, thr: rlictims joined brothel -,ouse and given their willingness to 6i6 r", with the custcrn FIR or durilr13 r:rs. Furthermore, at the stage of filing of the -he course of investigation or througrh the averments of tl any material e charge sheet, the Police could not p.rtforth 'ro substantiate that the petitioner had knowledge and or the reason to believe that the womerr were trafficked for t ingredients 1x re purpose of prostitution. Theref()r(,), the uired for constituting 'the offences lnder , , Sections 37C, ,3 l0(AX2) of IPC are not made out agerinst the petitioner. 12 lr r ew of the above discussion and having considered the fact that the petitioner_accused narl no knowledge that he woman were trafficked for the purpc,se of prostitution this ,lourt is of the considered view that the \ t ,.: 10 continuation of the proceedings against the petitioner_ accused No.5 amounts to abuse of process of law, therefore, the proceedings against the petitioner-accused No.5 are liable to be quashed.

13. Accordingly, thls Criminal petition is allowed and the proceedings against the petitioner-accused No.5 in P.R.C.No.395 of 2023 on the fite of the tearned ilt Additionat Chief tr/etropolitan Magistrate at Nampally, Hyderabad, are hereby quashed As a sequel, pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed. _..1 //TRUE COPY// Sd/. A.SREENIVASA REDDY ASSISTANT RFGISTRAR / (. r, sEcrr6x oFFlcER To, 'l.ThelllAdditionalChiefMetropolitanMagistrateatNampally' Hyderabad

2. The Station House Officer, Banjara Hills Police Station' Hyderabad District'

3. One CC to Sri Anjaneyulu Chandubatla, Advocate IOPUC] 4. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad [OUT]

5. Two CD copies. BJLB I 1 ! HIGH COURT DATED:05/03/2025 ORDER CRLP.No.4720 of 202, ,a 1Al 1.^V sre 14: ) 1,o ) c 2 lrAY 2025 o \:i;',,r. t utEO CRIMINAL PETlTlOl,l 3i ALLOWED 'L[- ,4.7 ) \