No case against prostitute's customer after raid: K'taka HC

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court recently ruled that there is no penalty for a customer who uses the services of a prostitute.

A single-judge bench comprising Justice M Nagaprasanna was hearing a petition filed by S Babu.

The petition was filed under sections 3, 4, 5, 6 and 370 of the human trafficking act of 1956 and has been quashed by the High Court.

The Court said while prostitution is not an offence, practising it in a brothel or within 200 metres of any public place is illegal. However, there is no provision that holds the customer guilty.

Earlier, the Karnataka High Court had ruled that if the house owner is not aware of a prostitution racket being run in the premises given on rent, then he is not liable to be prosecuted under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act.

The single bench headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna gave the verdict in March quashing the FIR in this regard against the house owner Prabhuraj, a resident of Nagarbhavi in Bengaluru.

The court had said that under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act Sections 3 (2) (B), the legal proceedings could be initiated only if the house owner is aware of the prostitution racket in any place.