The division bench observed that a brothel is not merely a place where sexual activity takes place but a commercial establishment created and maintained for the systematic exploitation of persons for financial gain
Kochi : A high court division bench, resolving a legal conflict, has held that a customer who visits a brothel for sexual activity is liable under Sections 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The commercial exploitation sought to be prohibited by the Act is therefore sustained not merely by the brothel keeper but also by those who patronise it. The court also noted that if penal consequences are confined only to the brothel keeper or organiser, excluding the customer, the legislative object of suppressing commercial sexual exploitation would stand substantially diluted. The court further remarked that a customer availing the services of a sex worker in a brothel becomes an active participant in the commercial transaction. Hence, there is no justification for keeping the customer out of the criminal liability under the Act, the bench held.