HC

Indian Penal Code

Bangalore

In a ruling on Indirangar Aroma Spa and Saloon caseThe High Court (HC)has said that though it feels that customers encourage prostitution, there are no legal provisions to prosecute customers of a brothel. The provisions of Immoral Trafficking Act (ITA), under which customers are booked by the police, are “Keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as brothel”, “living on the earnings of the prostitution,” “procuring, inducing or taking person for the sake of prostitution”, “prostitution and in or in the vicinity of public place.” In yet another case where a customer was booked under the provisions of ITA, thesaid, “None of the above said provisions are attracted so far as the customers are concerned. Though it is felt by this Court on various occasions that the customer virtually encourages prostitution, but in the absence of any specific penal provision, it cannot be said that he is liable for any prosecution for the said offences.”The accused, a 39-year-old resident of JP Nagar, was booked by S Ayesha, the inspector of Women and Narcotic Drugs squad of the CCB. The Aroma Spa and Saloon near Indiranagar was raided by the police in 2016. Allegedly some persons were found there who had committed offences under the ITP Act. They were also booked for ‘slavery’ under theThe accused approached the HC and his advocate submitted that in at least seven cases since 2011 the court had said that the provisions of the ITP Act and Section 370 of IPC cannot be imposed on the customers of a brothel or a massage parlour.The HC was convinced with the argument. It said, “This Court has specifically observed that under Sections 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of ITP Act and Section 370 of IPC are not attracted, so far as the customers are concerned in a brothel house or massage parlour. ”The HC quashed the proceedings against the customer in this case.ShakersIn another case, six out of the over 100 customers of a live band accused of ‘slavery’ ‘obscene acts and singing’ among others have been let off by the High Court. The CCB had booked 124 customers at Bangalore Shakers bar and restaurant on KH Road.It was alleged that women trafficked from other states were appointed as “waitresses and were made to dance in skimpy dresses to music.” The customers were supplied with food and drink “when dance and music was going on and the said dancers were engaged for encouraging men to have sex with them and thereafter, they were being used for prostitution.” In this case too, the HC quashed the case against the six customers who had approached it.