Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

2. Vide the impugned order, the learned ASJ, dismissed the application under Section 216 of the Cr.P.C. preferred by the present petitioner seeking addition/alteration of charge with respect to respondents no. 2 to 5, namely, Kapil Bhatia, Jugal Kishore Bhatia, Kanta Bhatia and Dharna Bhatia respectively. The said application under Section 216 of the Cr.P.C. sought addition of charges under Sections 370/377 of the IPC, Section 3(1)(h)(w) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 ('SC/ST Act') and Section 16 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 ('BLA'). During the course of the arguments before the Learned Trial Court, the submissions were made only with respect to Section 370 of the IPC and Section 16 of the BLA.

20. Section 370 of the IPC, reads as under:

"Section 370 IPC - Trafficking of persons

370. (1) Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, (a) recruits, (b) transports,

(c) harbours, (d) transfers, or (e) receives, a person or persons, by--

First.-- using threats, or Secondly.-- using force, or any other form of coercion, or Thirdly.-- by abduction, or Fourthly.-- by practising fraud, or deception, or Fifthly.-- by abuse of power, or Sixthly.-- by inducement, including the giving or receiving of payments or benefits, in order to achieve the consent of any person having control over the person recruited, transported, harboured, transferred or received, commits the offence of trafficking.

21. The aforesaid offence has been substituted in place of erstwhile Section 370 of the IPC by Section 8 of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013 (w.e.f. 02.04.2013). Old Section 370 of the IPC was as under:

"370. Buying or disposing of any person as a slave Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine."

Thus, the heading of erstwhile Section 370 of the IPC "Buying or disposing of any person as a slave' had been substituted by "Trafficking of person."

22. The present new Section 370 of the IPC essentially deals with the heinous offence of trafficking of a person. It is pertinent to note that the aforesaid substitution of Section 370 of the IPC was made after the recommendation made SINGH RAWAT CRL.REV.P. 882/2019 Signing Date:05.09.2024 17:55:39 in the report of the Committee of amendment of Criminal Law by Justice J.S. Verma dated 23.01.2013. The following extract from the said recommendation relevant for the present case is as under: