CHENNAI: For a metropolis That Does not have A delegated ‘purple mild’ space for licensed and examined enterprise intercourse staff, the current crackdown on therapeutic massage parlours and spas by metropolis police beneath the provisions of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956 was certainly a shock.
Parlours, well being memberships and spas fall beneath common enterprise class for which licences are issued by the Greater Chennai Company and no-objection certificates (NOC) are given by police and well being departments. Whereas The metropolis has almost 900 therapeutic massage parlours/spas, solely over 100 have all these licences.
There are almost 800 softwares pending with police and civic authorities.Lack of licences and situation violations are feeble grounds for crackdowns. “Anyway, as per Part 10 of Chennai City Municipal Company Act, 1919, if orders on an software for a licence or permission or for registration for a enterprise enterprise Aren’t acquired by the applicant inside 60 days after the submission of The equipment, the permission shall be deemed to have been given for the yr topic to completely different situations,” said a spa proprietor.
Mentioning that The goal of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act was to curb abuse and exploitation Of women, former director-widespread of Tamil Nadu police Bholonath said: “The AVS unit ought to Think about proscribing the exploitation Of women and women and the core flesh commerce.”
In a current decidement, Madras extreme courtroom has said: “It Want to be made clear that any enterprise institution which conducts the enterprise with out buying the commerce license, Might be taken cognizance solely by the Company of Chennai and movement Might be initiated by the Company On this regard. Police Might Have not any position to play insofar as working of the enterprise institution with out commerce license. The position of the police kicks in solely when There’s an offence beneath the Act.”
Following this week’s raid on Greater than 150 retailers, 63 have been ordepurple to be sealed for functioning with out licences. Whereas sealing has been ordepurple as per The prevailing civic guidelines, for the raid the officers are invoking the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act provisions, which is curious.
In 2009, Justice K Chandru penned a judgment disapproving of ‘crackdowns’ on therapeutic massage parlours. He said, “majoritarian impulses rooted in moraitemizingic custom Might not impinge upon particular person autonomy.” As a phrase of warning, however, he said there was no prohibition for police To look at and take relevant movement in situations of felony movements.
The December 2014 verdict of Justice V Ramasubramanian (now a decide of the Supreme Court) flagged arbitrary police movement on therapeutic massage parlours and requested the Chennai Company to invoke its powers and embrace the wellness enterprise, specifying the movements for which enterprise licences are utilized for and issued.
With none readability of regulation and with out particular grievances of prostitution in any Of these parlours, police can’t barge in and take people in droves in custody. Be it therapeutic massage parlours or spas, therapeutic remedy, magnificence …….