Written by Sadaf ModakMumbai | September 21, 2025 10:01 PM IST 3 min readOn September 15, the special MCOCA court was informed that the authority did not grant sanction and hence the Act cannot be applied anymore. (Representational)OVER TWO months after the Mumbai Police in a rare instance had invoked stringent charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in a sex trafficking case, the charges were dropped against the accused. This was after the sanctioning authority refused to grant sanction to invoke the Act, not finding sufficient grounds. The accused had also raised suspicion over the invocation of the Act against them, citing that on an average 5-10 raids are conducted weekly to crack down on trafficking and the Act was invoked only against them.In July, the D B Marg Police in South Mumbai had added sections of MCOCA in a case where three persons including a woman were arrested in June following a raid, allegedly for running a brothel, and had rescued three women claiming they were victims of trafficking. The police had claimed that the accused were part of an organised crime syndicate, involved in trafficking, and hence they could be booked under MCOCA, a special Act in the state used against organised gangs and their members.A sanction is required under the Act from a sanctioning authority, who is usually a police officer of the rank of an Additional Director General of Police.On September 15, the special MCOCA court was informed that the authority did not grant sanction and hence the Act cannot be applied anymore. The special court in Mumbai then ordered for the case to be sent to another designated court as the accused will continue to face charges under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.The court also on the same day granted bail to the three accused. In the bail plea of Lata Nair, she had raised the issue that D B Marg police, which has the jurisdiction over the Kamathipura area, where certain spots are considered ‘red-light’ areas due to the presence of commercial sex workers, conducted 5-10 raids weekly but in none of them was MCOCA is invoked. The lawyer for Nair also claimed that she is in possession of a flat which is more than 1,200 sq ft in area, with the building due for redevelopment soon, alleging that it could be the reason why she was being booked with an ulterior motive to take possession of the property.While granting her bail along with the two other accused, the court considered that the statements of the three rescued women were taken by a magistrate, after they were taken to a protection home. The court said that in the statements the women, all in their 30s, had said that they were engaged in sex work willingly.“…it has to be mentioned that the order passed by the learned magistrate…is totally contradictory to the allegations made by the prosecution regarding the three victims,” special judge N R Pradhan said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:MCOCA