New Delhi:
An HIV positive sex worker, sentenced to seven years imprisonment for running a brothel in Pune and procuring girls for prostitution, has been granted bail by the Supreme Court on humanitarian ground.
A bench of Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad released the HIV positive sex worker on bail for six months on a plea made by her counsel Gurdeep Singh, who had come to the apex court after dismissal of her bail plea earlier by the Bombay High Court.
Lodged in Pune's Yerwada jail since May 13 last year, the sex worker had been convicted on various offences under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act for procuring minor girls and forcing them into prostitution.
As per the bail plea filed by Singh, the woman had been first arrested on November 17, 2006, following a raid conducted by Pune Police at her brothel in the city.
The raid was conducted at the instance of some civil society workers, who had tipped-off the police about minor girls procured from far-flung areas in Nepal and elsewhere and having been forced into prostitution.
Police had rescued four to five women and nine minor girls from a hidden cell in the building. The girls had told the police that they were brought to Pune with assurance of employment but were sold at the brothel.
The trial court convicted the sex worker in May last year, ordering the woman to be taken into custody. Earlier, she had been released on bail during her trial.
In the bail plea, Singh pleaded that irreparable damage would be done to her client's health if she is not released on bail at the earliest and provided access to proper medicare.
Contending that the high court "has pathetically erred in rejecting the bail application," the counsel pleaded that the judicial order on his client's bail plea needed to take into account the fact that she needs utmost care, love and affection and the best possible medical treatment.