Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has held that a man who visits a brothel as a customer cannot be prosecuted under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, as paying money for personal gratification is not procurement for the purpose of prostitution within the meaning of the Act.Giving this ruling on Aug 11, Justice Gautam Chowdhary said: “If a person visits a brothel as a customer, then at the most, he may be procuring a sex worker to satisfy his personal lust, but not for the ‘purpose of prostitution’ as defined under the Act (which requires commercial exploitation). Therefore, a customer who pays money for gratification cannot be prosecuted under Section 3, 4, 5, or 7 of the Act.”The court allowed the application filed by one Nitin and quashed the charge sheet and criminal proceedings against the accused-applicant, who was among 16 people apprehended during a police raid on a house in Ghaziabad on Dec 31, 2023. The applicant was charged under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the ITPA.The HC found these charges legally unsustainable for a customer as they were related to running a brothel.The court said a customer could not be said to be keeping or managing or acting or assisting in the keeping or management of a brothel because he simply comes and pays money to get a woman to satisfy his lust.Consequently, the HC quashed the charge sheet and all criminal proceedings against the applicant.
