Bengaluru, September 27: The Karnataka High Court on Sunday quashed a criminal case against a 31-year-old website designer, reported Live Law. The website designer was arrayed as co-accused in the case in which the website developed by his was used for prostitution. Justice Ashok G Nijagannavar quashed the petition filed by the website designer Gavin Mendes. Nagpur: Prostitution Racket Busted; 2 Women Rescued, Man Held.

Justice Nijagannavar quashed the case registered against Mendes. The cases against Mendes was registered under Sections 4, 5 & 7 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, Sections 370, 370 A (2), 292 of IPC, 67 of Information Technology Act and Section 14 of Foreigners Act. Goa: Prostitution Racket Busted in Colva, 2 Girls Rescued.

On February 7, 2014, the police received information about prostitution racket run by owners of the website. According to police, the accused involved in the racket were supplying foreign and Indian girls by contacting customers through an international website. They later nabbed two girls and a man by the police on February 8, 2014.

According to the petitioner, he designed the website and delivered it to him online and received payment for his work. The petitioner, who is a resident of Panaji, said that he had no direct contact with the main accused. Mendes mentioned that he had no knowledge for which purpose the website was to be used.

According to the Live Law’s report, the petitioner’s name was not in the FIR, but was later arrayed as accused No.4 in the chargesheet. The court said that there was no prima facie material to prove the involvement of the petitioner in the crime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2020 04:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).