UMEDSINH P CHAMPAWAT Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of filing this petition under section 482 of CrPC, the petitioner accused has prayed for quashing the FIR filed and chargesheet submitted in connection with the offences, registered on 16.02.2003 by DCB Police Station being II.CR No.3003/2003 punishable under sections 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 known as The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women & Girls Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). It is submitted that the petitioner is totally innocent and is not involved in any of the offences alleged against him in the FIR or the chargesheet directly or indirectly and he is being wrongly prosecuted for the said offences which can be termed as the "offence against society." The petitioner is prosecuted and chargesheeted as the owner of one hotel in the area near Airport of City of Ahmedabad known as Hotel Taj Residency Umed.

(2.) Ld. counsel Mr. Anandjiwala appearing for the petitioner has taken this Court through the averments made in the petition and the cause for which the petitioner has been named as an accused in the chargesheet filed by the police. Of course, the FIR as well as the chargesheet have been assailed on various grounds mentioned in the memo of the petition, but ld. Counsel Mr. Anandjiwala has concentrated his arguments substantially on two main grounds, viz;

(3.) To appreciate the say and submissions of ld. counsel Mr. Anandjiwala for the petitioner, it would be beneficial to narrate in brief the case of the prosecution. (i) On 06.02.2003, a specific information was received by the Jt. Police Commissioner, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad that an illegal and immoral activities are being done by the Agents etc. providing young girls and women and they are being used as sex workers. These activities are nothing but prostitution and, therefore, with a view to contemplate some legal action against such persons/ agents, an offence came to be registered as II.CR No.3003/2003 at DCB Police Station. (ii) Investigation of said FIR was being done by one Police Inspector Shri Tarun Barot and when investigation was in progress, on 15.02.2003, Dy. SP, Crime Branch Shri Vanzara received further secret information that in certain hotels, this immoral trafficking business of prostitution of girls and ladies is being done by some procurers/agents which can be termed as agent or mediator. In relation to this information and to do further procedure under the rules, the services of one lady panch and two male panchas were sought and the raid was carried out by finalising a deal with the procurers mainly with one Shri Nirav Modi. This Nirav Modi- one of the co-accused had agreed to send a girl in Hotel Samir and subsequently a successful raid was carried out at Hotel Samir and during raid, raiding party found one girl from room No.305 along with bogus customer planted by the raiding party. The girl found from room No.305 of Hotel Samir was, according to the prosecution, one Shehnaz Munni, w/o Md. Yunus Shaikh. Immediately thereafter, one another raid was carried out at Hotel Avtar Palace located near Raipur Gate, Opp: Mahipatram Ashram. This raid was carried out on the information divulged by Shenaz @ Munni. Certain recoveries were made from Hotel Avtar and from the persons on duty at Hotel Avtar Palace and the things were seized by the officer heading the raiding party under a panchanama. According to the prosecution, this raid was also a successful raid. The case of the prosecution is that accused Nirav Modi disclosed certain facts that he himself and his close acquaintance Shri Amin @ Devang and Aji Christian are in hand in-gloves and they used to book rooms in Hotel Avtar Palace, Hotel Samir and Hotel Taj Residency Umed and with the help of the management of these hotels, they are successfully or say regularly supplying the girls to the customers and visitors of the aforesaid hotels for prostitution. Thus, the FIR is also against the owners or persons in management of all the three hotels. The present petitioner as per say of prosecution being the owner of the Hotel Taj Residency Umed, is made accused and now has been chargesheeted.