India, Dec. 15 -- The sessions court has struck down a magistrate court order detaining 12 commercial sex workers who were rescued by the Malwani police in June, purportedly to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases to their clients. The sessions court held that the magisterial order was illegal, as all the rescued women were over 18 and could not have been detained beyond 21 days for a specific inquiry contemplated under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956.

Additional sessions judge Mujibodeen Shaikh also ordered the police to repatriate 11 of the sex workers to Bangladesh after they informed the court that they were illegally brought into India with a promise of high-paying jobs and were forced into prostitut...