The Commissioner of the Greater Chennai City Police, Shankar Jiwal, has issued an unconditional apology to the Madras High Court following unlawful raids conducted by police officers on a spa in Chennai. The apology comes after it was determined that the police actions against Willows Spa were in violation of existing laws and directives previously issued by the High Court itself.
The apology was formally submitted as a counter-affidavit before Justice N Anand Venkatesh, where Commissioner Jiwal expressed regret for the actions of police personnel involved in the raids across multiple branches of the Willows Spa network in the city.
The core of the issue lies in the police’s failure to adhere to the established procedure under Section 15 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act during the spa raids. Speaking through State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah, Commissioner Jiwal stated, “Police could have avoided the controversy in this case if they had followed the procedure under Section 15 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act before conducting the raid/search. I tender an unconditional apology to this court on behalf of the respondent police for not following the court order and conducting a surprise check without adhering to the procedure mandated under Section 15 of the Act, and the circulars issued to that effect.” This submission was made during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by Hema Jwaalini, director of Willows Spa Private Limited, Chennai.
Ms. Jwaalini’s contempt petition sought action against police officials from numerous stations including Kilpauk, Nolambur, Foreshore Estate, Saidapet, Anna Nagar, Nungambakkam, Chetpet, Valasaravakkam, Neelankarai, Kanathur, Adyar, Tiruvanmiyur, and Mambalam. These officials were accused of disobeying a High Court order dated March 15, 2021, which clarified the jurisdiction in such matters.
According to the petitioner, “While hearing my earlier petition, the High Court passed an order that when a trading establishment did not have any trade licence, Greater Chennai Corporation is the authority to conduct the raid in the establishment. The court further clarified that police have no role to play insofar as running the business establishments without a trade licence. However, ignoring the court order, the police continued to conduct raids in our spas.” This highlights the crux of the legal overreach – the police acted outside their designated authority concerning trade license violations.
Further compounding the issue, the affidavit filed by Ms. Jwaalini detailed allegations of police misconduct during the raids. She claimed that spa staff and therapists were coerced into signing letters and undertakings under duress, dictated by the raiding officers. “Our staff were also asked to pay fines under Section 37 of Chennai City Police Act, 1888, without issuing any receipts, even though the violation of the Section does not apply to the operation of spa massage centres,” the petitioner stated, pointing to the imposition of unlawful penalties under an irrelevant legal provision.
In response to these serious allegations and the contempt petition, the city police chief assured the court that the procedure under Section 15 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act would be strictly adhered to in all future raids and searches. He also noted that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) had been disseminated to all concerned police officers to ensure proper procedural compliance during such operations.
Taking the Commissioner’s submissions and unconditional apology into account, Justice Anand Venkatesh formally disposed of the contempt petition, bringing an end to this legal chapter of the Willows Spa Raid controversy.