India, Aug. 20 -- PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court has held that a man who visits a brothel as a customer cannot be prosecuted under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, merely for paying money for personal gratification.

A bench of Justice Gautam Chowdhary observed: "If a person visits a brothel as a customer, then at the most, he may be procuring a prostitute to satisfy his personal lust, but not for the 'purpose of prostitution' as defined under the Act (which requires commercial exploitation). Therefore, a customer who pays money for gratification cannot be prosecuted under Section 3, 4, 5, or 7 of the Act."

After information that women were engaged in sex trade at a house in Ghaziabad, the police ...