Bombay High Court Quashes One-Year Detention of Adult Trafficking Victim

The Bombay High Court quashed a one-year detention order of an adult woman rescued during a police raid under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. Justice N J Jamadar ruled that mere poverty, loneliness, or lack of social support cannot justify restricting a survivor's personal liberty without material evidence of criminal conduct. The court emphasized that PITA aims to protect victims, not punish them, and detention based solely on apprehensions of relapse into immoral activities is unreasonable.