Chennai, August 01: The Madras High Court has held that the city police had no legal right to prevent a health Spa from being run by any citizen of the country even if the services were offered by members of opposite sex.
Granting an interim injunction on a application by M/s Influence Lifestyle Stores Private Ltd seeking to restraining police from interfering with the ‘peaceful conduct’ of the business offering various Spa therapies for both sexes by members belonging to both sexes, Justice K Chandru said ‘there is no law regulating the field’.
The Judge, in his order yesterday, cited judgements of the Supreme Court to show that ‘a majoritarian impulse rooted in moralistic tradition cannot impinge upon individual autonomy’.
At the same time, the Judge said, the police were entitled to inspect such premises and take appropriate action according to law in cases of any criminal activities prohibited by law.
The Judge also referred to a judgement of the Madras High Court while dealing with the power of the police to curb immoral and indecent activities which held that ‘dehors (outside) the powers vested by the legislative assembly they cannot curb any activities as being immoral and courts can not clothe them with such powers’.
The city police commissioner in a counter affidavit had stated that the blanket restraint order sought by the applicant was only to engage young girls to attract more youth. With teenage girls employed there was the possibility of men with questionable character and anti-social elements being attracted to the parlour leading to unwarranted problems and immoral activities, the commissioner claimed.
The affidavit submitted that there was reason to suspect that the applicant was contemplating to indulge in unusual and unhealthy activities.
The Judge pointed out that the special government pleader was unable to point out any specific legal provision under the Madras City Police Act which obliges a Spa centre to be licenced by the police commissioner.
The business house had filed the civil suit for a mandatory injunction to direct the state to formulate rules and regulations for conducting Spa centres and for a permanent injunction to restrain the respondents from interfering with the peaceful conduct of its business.
—Agencies