BACK TO SECTIONSWrit Petition (Criminal) No. 3 of 2016
Non-BailableCognizable: CognizableCourt of Session
Reform Highlights
1
Renumbered from IPC 370/370A to BNS 143.
2
Minimum 7 years for adult trafficking; minimum 10 years for child trafficking.
3
Death penalty if trafficked person dies as a result.
4
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 continues to operate alongside BNS 143.
THE STATUTE
The Clause
Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a person or persons, by using threats, or force, or any other form of coercion, or by abduction, or by practising fraud, or deception, or by abuse of power, or 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 being recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received, commits the offence of trafficking.
Legal Commentary
Section 143 is India's comprehensive national human trafficking provision — introduced in the IPC in 2013 as Section 370 and carried forward in the BNS with strengthened provisions. Trafficking is defined by three elements: (1) the act (recruit, transport, transfer, harbour, or receive); (2) the means (threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or financial inducement); and (3) the purpose (exploitation — including sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, servitude, organ removal). Critically, consent is irrelevant when any of the means listed are used — a woman who 'agrees' to be trafficked after being deceived about a job opportunity has not validly consented. The punishment scales dramatically: basic trafficking carries a minimum 7 years; trafficking of more than one person or a child carries a minimum 10 years; trafficking by a public servant or police officer carries a minimum 10 years; repeated offenders face life imprisonment; and if the trafficked person dies in consequence, the death penalty is available.
Landmark Precedents
Prajwala v. Union of India (2016)
RELEVANCE
Supreme Court directed central and state governments to take urgent action on human trafficking, including setting up anti-trafficking units in all districts.
Case Simulations
"Recruiting women from villages with false job promises and transporting them to cities for sexual exploitation — Section 143."
"A gang using debt bondage to force children into domestic labour — Section 143."
"A trafficking network that traffics a woman who subsequently dies from abuse — Section 143, potential death penalty."
Expert Insights
No. Under Section 143, the consent of the trafficked person is irrelevant when any of the prohibited means (threats, force, coercion, deception, abuse of power, financial inducement) were used.
Trafficking of a minor (under 18) carries a minimum of 10 years rigorous imprisonment, extendable to life. If more than one child is trafficked, the minimum is also 10 years.