( 1 ) THE points involved in this writ petition are similar to those in Civil Misc. Writ No. 1371 of 1958 which I have disposed of today. Both these writ petitions were heard together and no separate arguments were addressed in either of them. In my order in writ petition No. 1371 of 1958 I have dealt with the questions raised in these two petitions in some detail, and for the reasons given in that order I reject this petition. Civil Miscellaneous Writ No. 1371 of 1958.

1-a. The petitioner has come to this Court on the allegation that she is a prostitute aged 24 years and is also a singer. She resides in premises No. 54-A, Mohamad Ali Park, Allahabad, of which the respondent No. 5 is the landlord and the respondent No. 4 the chief tenant. Her allegation is that prostitution is her hereditary trade and the only means of her livelihood as also that of her cousin sister and two younger brothers who are her dependants and who wholly live on her earnings made by prostitution.

She complains that the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) is ultra vires of the Constitution of India, as it illegally prohibits the petitioner from carrying on her trade and in any case imposes unreasonable and illegal restriction on the same. She alleges that the result of the enforcement of the Act would be that she would be left to starve as she has no other source of livelihood and the chances of her being rehabilitated as a good housewife in society are nil. There is an averment in the petition as also in the affidavit filed in support of it that she knows no other trade or profession and consequently cannot carry on any other profession or trade. On these facts she has prayed for the issue of a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or direction commanding the respondents Nos. 1 to 3 to restrain from interfering with the petitioners carrying on her trade of prostitution or from interfering with the visit of her customers to her place. It is also prayed that the respondents Nos. 4 and 5 be restrained from taking any action against the petitioner or her customers under the said Act. It is also prayed that the respondents Nos. 4 and 5, be restrained from taking any action for forcible eviction of the petitioner from the premises in which she is at present living pending the disposal of the petition. There is also another interim prayer that during the pendency of the present writ petition the respondents Nos. 1 to 3 be restrained from taking any action against the petitioner under the Act and respondents nos. 4 and 5 from taking steps to evict the petitioner from the premises in which she is living and carrying on the profession of a prostitute.

( 2 ) IT is true that the profession or trade of a prostitute has existed in all civilised countries from the earliest times though it has always been subject to regulation by law or custom. It is also true that the number of prostitutes in this country Ss very large and in most cases it would be impossible for them to get themselves rehabilitated in society if under the law they are stopped from carrying on their profession or the conditions for their existence are made so difficult that they have to leave it. It cannot also be denied that there are several external causes which induce women to turn to prostitution for livelihood over which they have no control. The most important ones are :--

" (1) difficulty of finding employment; (2) excessively laborious and ill-paid work; (3) hard treatment of girls at home. . (4) promiscuous and indecent mode of living among the overcrowded poor; (5) the aggregation of people together in large communities and factories, whereby the young are brought into constant contact with demoralised companions; (6) the example of luxury, self-indulgence and loose manner set by the wealthier classes; (7) demoralising literature and amusements; (8) the arts of profligate men and their agents. "

It is also true th