HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has held that a customer of a sex worker cannot be prosecuted for human trafficking merely on the ground that he availed their services. However, the court clarified that prosecution under Section 370A(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was permissible if the customer knew, or had reason to believe, that the sex worker was a victim of trafficking.
The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justice K Lakshman and Justice BR Madhusudhan Rao while deciding a batch of over 120 criminal petitions filed by accused persons challenging the registration of cases against them under trafficking-related provisions.
The petitioners, including students, businessmen and private employees, were named as accused in various prostitution-related cases registered across Telangana, including Hyderabad. They contended that they were merely customers and had neither participated in human trafficking nor engaged in sexual exploitation.
The Bench observed that a customer cannot be treated as a trafficker under Section 370 IPC solely because he sought the services of a sex worker. However, if the sex worker was a trafficked person and the customer had knowledge or reason to believe that fact, prosecution under Section 370A(2) IPC would be justified.
The court further noted that persons involved in procuring sex workers for others, acting as intermediaries, brokers or facilitators, may attract trafficking-related offences depending on the facts of each case.
The reference was placed before the division bench after different single benches of the High Court expressed divergent views while dealing with similar cases over the past three years.