Taking a significant step to protect the rights of the sex workers, a Supreme Court panel on 14 February said that adults "participating with consent" in prostitution should not face criminal action or interference by the police.
The panel, set up in 2011, is scheduled to submit its report in March. The panel said that adult consenting sex workers cannot be arrested or harassed.
"Whenever there is a raid on a brothel, since voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful, the sex workers should not be arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised".
The panel also recommended deleting the offence of "soliciting" Under Section 8 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), 1956 - which rules that sex workers cannot solicit sex. The same is punishable with six months' jail and a fine of Rs 500.
Asserting that women in sex trade enjoy an equal right to protection, the panel recommended that police register complaints of sex workers and act as per the law.