Tamil Nadu Lawyer Seeks Court Protection to Operate “Consensual” Brothel

Chennai:

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has rejected a plea for protection to operate a brothel for “voluntary sexual activity”, and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner.

The petitioner, Raja Murrugan, who asserts to be a lawyer, was apprehended by the Kanniyakumari police under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act and POCSO for providing voluntary sexual activity through sex workers or volunteers.

His trust had provided “counselling, oil bath for 18-plus for both male and female, voluntary sexual activity for both men and women either through sex workers or members volunteering on their own” among other services.

The petitioner contended that the police crackdown was contrary to a Supreme Court decree, but the court determined that the petitioner had misinterpreted the essence of the ruling in the matter of Budhadeb Karmakar vs State of West Bengal.

The ruling, the court stated, was issued “for the purpose of prevention of trafficking and rehabilitation of sex workers, who wish to leave sex work and the circumstances conducive for sex workers, who wish to continue sex working as sex workers with dignity.”

The court clarified that while voluntary sex work is not illegal, managing a brothel is unlawful. It also instructed the trial court to conclude the trial in six months. The court also mandated the Bar Council to verify the authenticity of the petitioner’s law certificates and take appropriate action.