A Critical Analysis of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 with Special Reference to Criminal Amendment Act, 2013

After drugs and arms, human trafficking constitutes the third- largest organized crime in the world. Though numbers cannot be ascertained, millions of people are trafficked globally. It is a phenomenon that no country can claim to be free from. India is highly affected by this menace. According to reports, India ranks highly in all three elements of trafficking- source, transit, and destination. Every year, millions of people are trafficked in India, both internationally and domestically. While the cross border is a concern for India but intra- country trafficking forms a bulk of victims. To deal with this menace, several laws were enacted by the government. Article 23 of the Constitution explicitly “prohibits traffic in human beings”, and imposes responsibility on the states to address the menace of trafficking and provide support to the victims. Despite Constitutional guarantees and a plethora of laws, trafficking continues to thrive in the country. The domestic law dealing with trafficking is not updated to effectively combat this modern slavery. Recently, the government invited suggestions for the “Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021”. However, this bill is yet to be brought into reality. This article attempts to evaluate the law that redresses human trafficking: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 with special reference to the Criminal Amendment Act, 2013, and further argues for a comprehensive law to deal with changing dimensions of trafficking in India.