Gujarat: Brothel customer can’t be held for immoral trafficking, says HC

According to Section 370, “Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished...”

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The order also stated that Section 370 and its amendment following the December 16, 2012, gangrape will not be applicable if sex workers are engaged in prostitution of their own volition.

The Gujarat High Court has held that a customer at a brothel cannot be held liable for offences under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, but added that he cannot be exempted from charges, if proved, under IPC Section 370 that deals with physical exploitation. The order also stated that Section 370 and its amendment following the December 16, 2012, gangrape will not be applicable if sex workers are engaged in prostitution of their own volition.

While quashing charges under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act against Surat-based petitioner Vinod Bhagubhai Patel alias Vijay, Justice J B Pardiwala ordered police to proceed with the probe under Section 370 of IPC. “I hold that prosecution of the applicant herein for the offence under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act is not maintainable. The applicant herein cannot be said to have procured a woman for the purposes of prostitution,” the order stated.

According to Section 370, “Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished…”

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This law was amended in 2013 and Section 370A was introduced. As per the amendment, a person can be held liable within the mischief of this offence if he either recruits, transports, harbours, transfers, or (v) receives, a person or persons. The amendment came following the Delhi gangrape case.

Justice Pardiwala wrote in the order that, “I find it extremely difficult to take the view that a customer at a brothel is not covered within the provision of Section 370… A customer at a brothel could be said to receive the victim. I see no good reason why the customer should be kept out of Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code.”

The order further mentions that “it appears that Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code will have no application in a case wherein the sex workers engaged in prostitution of their own volition, and not pursuant to any inducement, force or coercion.” It states that this aspect of the case would be a question of investigation.

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Nizamuddin went to the US in December 2015 for a Master’s course in Computer Science, which he completed from Florida Institute of Technology in 2017. He completed his B.Tech in ECE from Jayaprakash Narayan College of Engineering, Mahbubnagar.

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