A sex worker cannot file a case alleging rape if her customers refused to pay her, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. A bench of justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy also said that while evidence submitted by a woman alleging sexual assault should be given importance, it cannot be construed as the "gospel truth", according to The Times of India.

The apex court judgment came as it acquitted three people of rape charges in a 20-year-old case. The Karnataka High Court had convicted the trio of rape after a woman, who used to work as a maid, had claimed that they had kidnapped and raped her in a garage in Bengaluru. The trio had later challenged the verdict in the top court, which on Wednesday observed that the woman's "conduct during the alleged ordeal is also unlike a victim of rape and betrays somewhat submissive and consensual disposition".

The court's ruling with reference to a sex worker followed a statement from the complainant's roommate, who deposed as a witness in the case. The roommate said that the complainant used to seek financial help from the accused and moonlighted as a sex worker at night after completing her job as a maid. She also said that the woman had lodged the complaint against the trio to compel them to pay her Rs 1,000, which they had earlier refused. The court held the witness' statement as plausible and said it "fits in with the defence plea to demolish the prosecution case".