Hyderabad, June 12 -- The Telangana High Court has ruled that a person cannot be prosecuted under trafficking laws merely for being present in or around a brothel.

The court clarified that prosecution under Section 370A(2) of the Indian Penal Code is possible only when there is evidence that a person engaged a trafficked sex worker and knew or had reason to believe that she was a victim of human trafficking.

High Court explains scope of trafficking law

The ruling was delivered by a division bench of Justices K. Lakshman and B. R. Madhusudhan Rao while hearing more than 120 criminal petitions filed by students, businesspersons and private employees named in prostitution-related cases across Telangana.

The court observed that the purpos...