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IMMORAL TRAFFIC (PREVENTION) ACT, 1956
1. Short title, extent and commencement 1
2. De nitions 2
2A. Rule of construction regarding enactments not extending to Jammu & Kashmir 5
3. Punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel 5
4. Punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution 7
5. Procuring, inducing or taking person for the sake of prostitution 8
6. Detaining a person in premises where prostitution is carried on 11
7. Prostitution in or in the vicinity of public places 13
8. Seducing or soliciting for purpose of prostitution 15
9. Seduction of a person in custody 17
10. [Rep. by Suppression of Immoral Traf c in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987] 18
10A. Detention in a corrective institution 19
11. Noti cation of address of previously convicted offenders 21
12. [Omitted by the Suppression of Immoral Traf c in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987] 22
13. Special police of cer and advisory body 22
14. Offences to be cognizable 24
15. Search without warrant 26
16. Rescue of person 28
(104 OF 1956)
An Act to provide in pursuance of the International Convention signed at New York on the 9th day of May, 1950, for 1[the Prevention of Immoral Traffic].
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
Short title, extent and commencement.
1. (1) This Act may be called 2[the Immoral Traffic (Prevention)] Act, 1956.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) This section shall come into force at once; and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date3 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
COMMENTS
SECTION NOTES
1.1 Short Title
The Act is formally titled The Immoral Traf c (Prevention) Act, 1956.
1.2 Extent of Application
The Act applies uniformly across the entire territory of India.
By including the whole of India, the Act ensures a consistent legal framework addressing the prevention of immoral traf c nationwide.
*Dated 30-12-1956.
This Act has been extended to Dadra and Nagar Haveli by the Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Laws) Regulation, 1963, w.e.f. 1-7-1965, to Goa, Daman and Diu by the Goa, Daman and Diu (Laws) No. 2 Regulation, 1963, w.e.f. 19-12-1963 and to the Union Territory of Pondicherry by the Pondicherry (Extension of Laws) Act, 1968, w.e.f. 24-5-1968.
1. Substituted for "the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls" by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987.
2. Substituted for "the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls", ibid
3. With effect from 1-5-1958, vide Notification No. G.S.R. 269, dated 16-4-1958. 1
1.3 Commencement of the Act
1.3-1 Immediate Effect:
The provisions of this section became enforceable immediately upon the Act’s enactment.
1.3-2 Deferred Application of Other Provisions:
The Central Government has been empowered to bring the remaining provisions into force on such date [w.e.f. 1-5-1958], as it may, by issuing a noti cation in the Of cial Gazette.
Definitions.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “brothel” includes any house, room 4[, conveyance] or place or any portion of any house, room 4[, conveyance] or place, which is used for purposes 5[of sexual exploitation or abuse] for the gain of another person or for the mutual gain of two or more prostitutes;
6[(aa) “child” means a person who has not completed the age of sixteen years;]
7[8[(b)] “corrective institution” means an institution, by whatever name called (being an institution established or licensed as such under section 21), in which 9[persons], who are in need of correction, may be detained under this Act, and includes a shelter where 10[undertrials] may be kept in pursuance of this Act;]
(b) 11[***]
12[(c) “magistrate” means a magistrate specified in the second column of the Schedule as being competent to exercise the powers conferred by the section in which the expression occurs and which is specified in the first column of the Schedule;]
6[(ca) “major” means a person who has completed the age of eighteen years;
4. Inserted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, w.e.f. 2-10-1979.
5. Substituted for "of prostitution" by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987.
6. Inserted, ibid.
7. Inserted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, w.e.f. 2-10-1979.
8. Clause (aa) renumbered as clause (b), by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987
9. Substituted for "women and girls", ibid
10. Substituted for “female undertrials”, ibid.
11. Clause (b) omitted, ibid. Prior to its omission, clause (b) read as under: ‘(b) “girl” means a female who has not completed the age of twenty–one years;’
12. Substituted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, w.e.f. 2-10-1979. Prior to its substitution, clause (c) read as under:
‘(c) “magistrate” means a District Magistrate, a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, a Presidency Magistrate, or a Magistrate of the first class specially empowered by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to exercise jurisdiction under this Act;’
IMMORAL TRAFFIC (PREVENTION) ACT, 1956 S. 2
(cb) “minor” means a person who has completed the age of sixteen years but has not completed the age of eighteen years;]
(d) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(e) 13[***]
14[(f) “prostitution” means the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purposes, and the expression “prostitute” shall be construed accordingly;]
15[(g) “protective home” means an institution, by whatever name called (being an institution established or licensed as such under section 21), in which 16[persons], who are in need of care and protection, may be kept under this Act 17[and where appropriate technically qualified persons, equipment and other facilities have been provided] but does not include—
(i) a shelter where 18[undertrials] may be kept in pursuance of this Act, or
(ii) a corrective institution;]
(h) “public place” means any place intended for use by, or accessible to, the public and includes any public conveyance;
(i) “special police officer” means a police officer appointed by or on behalf of the State Government to be in charge of police duties within a specified area for the purpose of this Act;
19[(j) “trafficking police officer” means a police officer appointed by the Central Government under sub-section (4) of section 13.]
13. Clause (e) omitted, ibid. Prior to its omission, clause (e) read as under:
‘(e) “prostitute” means a female who offers her body for promiscuous sexual intercourse for hire, whether in money or in kind;’
14. Substituted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987. Prior to its substitution, clause (f) as substituted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, w.e.f. 2-10-1979, read as under:
‘(f) “prostitution” means the act of a female offering her body for promiscuous sexual intercourse for hire, whether in money or in kind, and whether offered immediately or otherwise, and the expression “prostitute” shall be construed accordingly;’
15. Substituted by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, w.e.f. 2-10-1979. Prior to its substitution, clause (g) read as under: ‘(g) “protective home” means an institution, by whatever name called, in which women and girls may be kept in pursuance of this Act and includes––(i) a shelter where female undertrials may be kept in pursuance of this Act; and (ii) a corrective institution in which women and girls rescued and detained under this Act may be imparted such training and instruction and subjected to such disciplinary and moral influences as are likely to conduce to their reformation and the prevention of offences under this Act;’
16. Substituted for "women and girls", by the Suppression of Immortal Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1986, w.e.f. 26-1-1987.
17. Inserted, ibid.
18. Substituted for “female undertrials”, ibid.
19. Substituted, ibid. Prior to its substitution, clause (j) read as under: ‘(j) “Woman” means a female who has Completed the age of twenty-one years’
