Can brothel customers be Prosecuted?

The recent observation by the Kerala High Court that observed on Wednesday, the customer in the brothel can be proceeded criminally as per section 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, if the conditions are satisfied that are given in the provisions.

Prostitution in certain areas are punishable as per the section 7 of the act, the court in this case observed that the the person with whom such act of prostituion is carried out, then as per section 7(1) of the Act it means customer.

The petition thus further moved by the accused  before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s, Ernakulam, the prosecution alleged that the first accused in the case had taken the building that is situated 175 metres away from the temple at Ernakulam, to run a ayurvedic hospital and under the tag of ayurvedic hospital allowed to conduct Prostitution and in December 2004 when police approached to the building, the petitioner was indulged in sexual act with two women and thus was liable for the offence under section 3,4, and 7 of the act.

As per the petitioner for the sake of the argument the allegations are assumed to be true as he was just the customer so he cannot be proceeded against, as this law does not prosecute a customer.

The advocate of the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is alleged to be a customer, there is the absence of law for the customer in scope of this act , so the petitioner cannot be an accused.

Public prosecutor advocate contended that the section 7 of the act will be applied to the accused as he is the person with whom such Prostitution was done or carried on,

The court observed that the Immoral Traffic Act 1956, criminalises certain acts that are connected with prostitution as well for the prostitution in certain particular areas

These areas are:

• Areas by the state government  
• Areas close to public religious places, educational institutions,hospitals, nursing homes etc.
• Public place that are notified by the commissioner of police, or the magistrate

The section 7(1) of the act penalises two type people for the involvement in Prostitution within the area specified under the act, and

Those persons are:

• The person who carry on prostitution
• And the person with whom such act is carried on

The word prostitution is said to be the sexual exploitation or abuse of the persons for commercial purposes, these acts cannot be done alone and the person indulged in the act also falls under such prostitution.

The court thus observed that these acts cannot be carried on without the involvement of the customer and thus the act also brings the customer in the purview of the penal provisions.

The court observed that the word that is the person with whom such prostitution is carried out must be read in connection with the word prostitution, and thus the word prostitution is defined as the sexual exploitation or the abuse of the persons for the commercial purpose.