In a significant ruling, the High Court of Kerala in Sarath Chandran v. State of Kerala [2025:KER:59585] has held that individuals who pay for sexual services in a brothel can be prosecuted for “inducing prostitution” under Section 5(1)(d) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA).
The Court rejected the argument that such individuals are mere “customers,” stating that paying money for sex is a direct act of inducement that fuels the cycle of exploitation.
The case arose from a police raid on a house in Thiruvananthapuram, where the petitioner, Sarath Chandran, was found with a woman. He was charged under various sections of the ITPA. The petitioner argued that as a “customer,” he could not be held liable for offenses like keeping a brothel (Section 3) or living on the earnings of prostitution (Section 4), and that his act of paying did not amount to inducement.
The High Court dismissed this defence, holding that viewing the payer as a “customer” would defeat the purpose of the ITPA, which aims to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The ruling establishes that those who pay for sex are not innocent bystanders but active participants who facilitate sexual exploitation.
By refusing to frame the act of prostitution in a brothel as a simple commercial transaction, the Court’s interpretation reinforces the dignity of individuals and the objective of protecting those compelled into sex work.
The ruling makes it easier to prosecute those who pay for sex in exploitative settings like brothels, and seeks to curb the demand for human trafficking.
