Dance bars to re-open in Maharashtra as SC puts ban on hold

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state govt would press for the ban to continue

The Supreme Court today stayed the 2014 amendment of Maharashtra Police Act banning dance performances in various places including bars in the state.

The decision comes as a relief to thousands of women and others, who depended on these establishments for employment. 

The SC has, however, added a rider to its interim order and allowed the licensing authorities in the state to regulate indecent dance performances at bars and other places.

The apex court has now fixed the petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association for final hearing on November 5 and said that the matter pertaining to the similar issue had already been decided by this court in 2013.

Reacting to the apex court’s decision, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state government would press its demand in the Supreme Court for continuing a ban on dance performances at bars and other places.

"Although the Supreme Court's interim order mandates regulation instead of ban on dance bars, the (state) government still favours a ban," Fadnavis said reacting to the apex court order.

"We will examine and press our demand in the Supreme Court," he said.

In a controversial move in 2005, dance performances in bars of the state were banned, but three-star and five-star hotels were kept out of the purview of the Act.

In 2013, the apex court upheld a Bombay High Court verdict quashing the state government's order to ban dance bars. The ruling upheld that the ban was discriminatory and violated the Constitutional right to earn a living.

However, in June 2014, the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a law that banned dance bars in the state. The decision was a blow to thousands of bar girls and others associated with such establishments who had hoped to regain their livelihood.