Prayagraj. The Allahabad High Court has said that being a customer of a woman in a spa or being caught indulging in consensual sex does not prove the crime of human trafficking. The court said, Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code includes recruiting, transporting, transferring or receiving for exploitation in human trafficking. These facts do not apply in the case of the petitioner.
With this comment, the court has quashed the entire case proceedings of the criminal case going on under the Human Trafficking and Immoral Traffic Prohibition Act. This order has been given by Justice Vinod Diwakar while accepting the petition of Vipul Kohli, accused in the FIR lodged at Sector 49 police station in Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida.
The petition demanded the cancellation of the criminal case. The police raided the spa center on May 20, 2024 and caught the petitioner in an objectionable position with the woman. An FIR was registered against him under Section 370 of the IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5, 6 of the Immoral Traffic Prohibition Act.
After the police filed the charge sheet, ACJM Gautam Budh Nagar took cognizance and issued summons to the petitioner. The summons and the trial proceedings were challenged in the High Court. The petition said that the sections imposed do not prove the crime.
