Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner: Mr. Rajendra Jain
For the Respondent: Mr. Anurag Sharma, Mr. Aniroodh Mathur

Issue of the Case:

The primary issue was whether the FIR No. 233/2007 and related proceedings under Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, registered against the petitioner (arrested during a raid at a hotel for alleged prostitution activities), should be quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. (!) [17000541120001][17000541120002][17000541120003]

This hinged on two key contentions by the petitioner:

1. Validity of the investigating officer's authority: Whether Bajrang Singh Shekhawat (RPS, posted as Circle Officer, Sadar, Jaipur) was duly appointed as a Special Police Officer under Section 13 of the Act to conduct the raid and investigation, particularly given a 1962 notification issued under the prior name of the Act ("Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women & Girls Act, 1956"), and whether that notification remained valid post-1987 renaming to Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. (!) [17000541120004][17000541120005][17000541120009][17000541120010][17000541120011][17000541120018]

2. Compliance with search procedure: Whether the raid violated Section 15(2) of the Act by failing to associate two or more respectable inhabitants of the locality (including at least one woman) during the search, rendering the proceedings vitiate. (!) [17000541120020]

The court held that the officer qualified as a Special Police Officer under the saved 1962 notification (via savings provisions), making the investigation valid, and that Section 15(2) is directory, with any violation subject to case-specific evidence appreciation rather than automatic vitiation. The petition was dismissed. [17000541120018][17000541120020][17000541120021]