High court dismisses Delhi spa’s petition to ban transgender massages

High Court rejects a plea asking authorities to ban transgender massage spas

New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition seeking directions from the authorities to ban cross-gender massages in spas and massage centres.

Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora noted that a single Bench of the High Court was already dealing with the matter regarding the issue of the Indian Spa/Massage Center in Delhi on August 18, 2021. Validity Issues of Guidelines for Operation of Spa/Massage Centers in Delhi. The Delhi government was challenged.

“Since the dispute has been disposed of by a single bench, this court is of the view that the present public interest (litigation) cannot be taken into consideration. Therefore, the present petition is dismissed,” the bench said.

In the rejected plea, the petitioner also urged the court to direct the authorities to share audio and video recordings of spa and massage centers with the Delhi Commission for Women on a regular basis.

The petitioner’s counsel said that cross-sex massages are being carried out at various such facilities in the national capital in violation of the guidelines issued by the Delhi government on August 18, 2021.

He claimed massages were given in locked rooms, breaching guidelines and leading to the proliferation of prostitution.

The lawyer said he had made multiple complaints and representations to the police about Grolbarger’s illegal operation of the spa, but had received no response.

A bench of the court in December 2021 ordered the city’s Municipal Corporation and Delhi Police to conduct inspections and take necessary steps to ensure that no spa is allowed to operate without a valid license.

It requires police to inspect all licensed spas and open a case against them if they are found to be engaging in any illegal activities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)