1 Cr.WP.1970.2010 mnm IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION No. 1970 OF 2010 Theera Bhandari & Ors. ...Petitioners Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. ...Respondents Mr. B.A. Aloor, Advocate for the Petitioners Mr. A.S. Gadkari, A.P.P for the State CORAM: B. H. MARLAPALLE & SMT. ROSHAN DALVI, JJ. DATED: 16TH JULY, 2010. P.C. 1. We have heard Mr. Aloor the learned Advocate who claims to have filed this Petition on behalf of twenty girls who were rescued from a brothel in Pune and he prays for directions against Respondent No.4 to release the said girls forthwith from the alleged illegal custody of Respondent No.6 and further prays for directions against Respondent Nos.1 to 5 for payment of compensation on the ground that they acted illegally. 2. On our directions Mr. Aloor has placed before us a copy of the 2 Cr.WP.1970.2010 order dated 15th June 2010 passed by the learned Additional Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Kadiri in Andhra Pradesh. 3. The Inspector of Kadiri Urban Circle had obtained a search warrant from the said Court on 6th May 2010 for search of Sagar Building, Budhavar Peth, Pune and a raid was conducted at Pune with the assistance of local police. During the said raid these twenty girls were also rescued. These girls were initially admitted to the Mahila Rajya Graha (Respondent No.3) as per the order passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Court No.2 Pune, on 11th May 2010 and were directed to be kept under the custody of Respondent No.3 till 21st May 2010. On 24th May 2010 the Inspector of Police of Kadiri Urban Circle filed a requisition application before the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Court No.2 at Pune for issuance of transit warrant for these twenty girls and by an order passed on the very same day the Respondent No.3 was directed to release the girls with further order to the Inspector of Police Kadiri, Urban Circle to produce them before the Court of the learned Additional Magistrate, First Class at Kadiri. Accordingly the girls were produced before the said Court at Kadiri on 26th May 2010 and the Court directed the Inspector of Police, Kadiri Urban Circle to keep them in safe custody of RDT Organisation, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and that is how the girls came to be admitted under the said institution which has been impleaded as Respondent No.6 in this Petition. 3 Cr.WP.1970.2010 4. A similar application was made before the learned Additional Judicial Magistrate, First Class at Kadiri and the same was dismissed on 15th June 2010. The Court noted that as per the provisions of Section 17(3) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 it had ample powers to conduct an inquiry regarding the antecedents and age of the victim girls so as to handover them to the appropriate custody. The Court further noted that they were not in any way in the illegal custody of Respondent No.6. On the face of this order passed on 15th June 2010, it cannot be accepted that the twenty girls are presently in illegal custody of Respondent No.6. If the Petitioners are aggrieved by the said order, their remedy would lie before the appropriate Court in Andhra Pradesh. 5. In our view this Petition before us is misconceived and the same cannot be entertained. 6. Hence the Writ Petition is dismissed. (SMT. ROSHAN DALVI, J.) (B. H. MARLAPALLE, J.)