Spa Owners Approach Bombay High Court Alleging "Moral Policing" & Arbitrary Raids

An association of spa owners has approached the Bombay High Court against "arbitrary raids and harassment" by police and extortion by other 'activists' in the name of moral policing. The petition filed by the Wellness Welfare Association under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has sought guidelines to enfetter the raiding powers of the police after constitution of a High-Powered Committee and recommendations made by it. The plea further seeks strict adherence to section 15 of the Immoral Traffic (prevention) Act while conducting raids and a bar on publishing names of the spa, its owner or employees' names during such raids. "[Police] misuse their powers by conducting bogus and after thought raids which not only tarnish the image of the spa owners but also the staffs and trained therapist are being tagged as "Prostitutes" which infringes the fundamental rights of members of Petitioner and their staffs too." It therefore seeks separate guidelines for raids at spas, massage parlours and wellness centres. The plea states in the most of these cases the police acts on frivolous complaints of some unscrupulous persons, who try to extort money from the Spa Owners. "The persons making false complaints and involved in the raids are always the ones who demand exorbitant sums of money as 'hafta'. If the same is not paid, the business owners are threatened of being subjected to bogus raids and maligned as prostitution centres," the petitioners state. The petition filed through Advocates Shashwat Anand, Siddharth Naik and Pankaj Kandhari cites the stigma faced by female massage therapists, who are painted as 'prostitutes' and are exploited by the police as well as the 'hafta' demanding 'activists'. In several caes, the Spa Owners who have valid permissions and are running legitimate businesses are compelled to shut down due to stigma and harassment by the police and such 'activists,' they claim. According to the plea, merely because of this arbitrary and highhanded behaviour of the police the reputation of the Spa and Massage establishments along with the reputation of the owners and the employees and personnel working therein is greatly sullied and tarnished in the society, thereby portraying the legitimate businesses as sort of 'brothels' and the persons working therein, including the owners, as 'pimps " and the women working and earning a fare livelihood therefrom, as prostitutes,' the petition adds. "The same is directly an affront to the fundamental rights of the members of the Petitioner Association and their employees and personnel guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(l )(d), 19(1 )(e), 20 and s 21 of the Constitution, inter alia, the Right to Livelihood, Right to Privacy, Right to Equality and the Right to Personal Liberty, forming the very core and edifice of our Constitutional framework," it adds. Regarding the modus used, the plea states that the police under the premises without justifiable material claiming suspicion. Then without following procedures under the IM Act, like video recording the event and grounds for suspicion, the police usually detains all people present including clients "to create pressure on the spa owners." and on the therapist. Such "extortionists" go to the extent of planting condoms and other items in unsuspecting places, which are eventually found during the raids. However, no accountability is sought from the police or the "extortionists." The petition had been filed earlier this month and will come up for hearing in due course.

Spa Owners Approach Bombay High Court Alleging "Moral Policing" & Arbitrary Raids

Sharmeen Hakim

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