‘Sex Workers Can’t Be Treated As Commodities’: HC Says Customers At Brothels Can Be Persecuted

Last Updated:September 09, 2025, 14:57 IST

The HC said that sex workers cannot be treated as commodities, and a person utilising the service of a sex worker at a brothel cannot be termed a customer

The High Court quashed proceedings against the petitioner under Sections 3 and 4 but upheld prosecution under Sections 5(1)(d) and 7 of the ITP Act. (File photo)

Prostitution in India is a grey area as it is neither legal nor illegal. But the Kerala High Court has said that persons who pay at brothels for sexual services can be persecuted.

The Kerala High Court has said these people can be prosecuted under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITP Act), which criminalises the act of inducing a person to carry on prostitution.

Justice VG Arun observed that sex workers cannot be treated as commodities, and a person utilising the service of a sex worker at a brothel cannot be termed a customer, Bar & Bench reported.

In most cases, Justice Aurn said sex workers are lured into the trade through human trafficking and compelled to offer his/her body to satisfy the carnal pleasure of others.

“Indeed, the pleasure seeker may be paying money, a large chunk of which goes to the keeper of the brothel. The payment therefore can only be perceived as an inducement to make the sex worker offer his/ her body and act in accordance with the demands of the payer," the Court said.

A person approached the Kerala High Court, seeking the quashing of charges against him after he was found along with a woman lying naked on a bed while another man and woman were discovered in a separate room during a police raid in Thiruvananthapuram.

The petitioner claimed that he was merely availing services of sex workers but the police booked him under Sections 3 (punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel), 4 (punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution), 5(1)(d), and 7 (prostitution in or in the vicinity of public places) of the ITP Act.

After the hearing, the High Court gave some relief to the petitioner by quashing proceedings against him under Sections 3 and 4 but upheld prosecution under Sections 5(1)(d) and 7 of the ITP Act.

Saurabh Verma

Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

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