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Section 144: Exploitation of a Trafficked Person or Child

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita • Chapter VI: Of Offences Affecting the Human Body • Official Statutory Text & Legal Guide

Chapter VI: Of Offences Affecting the Human Body
Court of Session
Non-Bailable
Cognizable
Formerly Sec 370A IPC
Section 143 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 145

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 144

Section 144 penalizes the exploitation of a trafficked person or child, prescribing imprisonment of not less than five years extending up to seven years for adult victims, and not less than seven years extending up to ten years for child victims, alongside fine.

  • Exploitation of Trafficked Victims: Exploiting any person who has been trafficked under Section 143 BNS for physical exploitation, commercial sex, slavery, or organ removal.
  • Consumer & Beneficiary Culpability: Penalizes brothel clients, sweatshop factory owners, and recruiters who utilize trafficked labor knowing they were trafficked.
  • Enhanced Penal Sanctions for Minors: Mandatory minimum sentence of seven years if the trafficked victim is a child.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2011) 5 SCC 1: The Supreme Court directed that employers and factory owners exploiting trafficked children must be prosecuted under strict statutory penal provisions, enforcing zero tolerance.
  • Pradeep Kumar v. State of Bihar (2007) 7 SCC 413: Affirmed that beneficiaries exploiting trafficked persons are criminally culpable on parity with traffickers.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In raids on unorganized garment sweatshops or brick kilns where bonded laborers were discovered, charge the business proprietor under Section 144 BNS: knowledge that the workers were brought by human traffickers triggers mandatory five-year minimum imprisonment.

Section 143 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 145