Ban on dance bars in Maharashtra to stay, says state government

The Maharashtra Government has decided to continue with the ban on dance bars in Mumbai and other parts of the state.

In an approved draft amendment bill, the state government said that the ban could be extended to three-star and five-star hotels as well.

The decision is a blow to thousands of bar girls and others associated with such establishments who had hoped to regain their livelihood following a Supreme Court order last year.

The new Bill seeks to amend the Dance Bar Prohibition Act to remove a 'legal lacuna' on the ground of which the apex court had struck down the state government's 2005 order to ban dance bars.

According to the amendment, dance performances in three-star and five-star hotels will also be prohibited. The decision was taken on a proposal of state's home department to amend sections 31 and 32 of the Act.

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.

The government could not defend this discrimination when the ban was challenged before the Supreme Court which, in July last year, upheld a Bombay High Court verdict quashing the state government's order, ruling that the ban was discriminatory and violated the Constitutional right to earn a living.