The Delhi High Court has directed the city police to ensure all steps are taken to prevent prostitution rings from operating under the garb of massage parlours.
Its order came on a public interest litigation which alleged that such rackets have become rampant in the national capital.
The Delhi High Court has directed the city police to ensure all steps are taken to prevent prostitution rings from operating under the garb of massage parlours.
Its order came on a public interest litigation which alleged that such rackets have become rampant in the national capital.
The court disposed of the petition and recorded that police have taken necessary action whenever any information or complaints with respect to prostitution rackets were received by them.
"The respondent police is directed to ensure that all steps are undertaken to prevent prostitution rings from being conducted under the garb of massage parlours," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said in its recent order.
In the order, the court noted that directions have been issued to all deputy commissioners of police by the Delhi Police Headquarters to "keep a vigil on massage parlours and to take appropriate legal actions against them as and when they notice any illegal activities taking place".
The court also recorded that according to a status report filed by police, between January 2017 to September 2019, 405 massage parlours were functioning in the city, and 19 complaints about prostitution rackets were received.
It added that FIRs were registered on eight complaints and allegations levelled in the remaining 11 could not be substantiated during inquiry.
In addition, action was also taken against certain massage parlours functioning without requisite trade license, the court said.
"Considering that the Delhi Police has been taking necessary actions, this court is of the opinion that no further orders are required to be passed in the present petition in light of the directions already issued by Respondent No. 1 (Delhi Police Commissioner)," it said.
"This court is of the opinion that the status report discloses that necessary action has been taken by police, whenever they have been in receipt of information or complaints with respect to prostitution rackets operating under massage parlours," the court said.
The petitioner, Ateet Bansal, had claimed that sex rackets operating under the garb of massage parlours posed a serious threat to the safety and dignity of women.
He said that he filed the petition to ensure the safety of women which was threatened by the mushrooming of illegal sex trafficking rings in the city and its surrounding areas.
The petitioner had prayed for directions to authorities to immediately initiate actions to abolish all sex rackets.
-With PTI Input