Ministers, group leaders discuss amendment to dance bar act

Senior Maharashtra ministers and the group leaders of parties in the state legislature today discussed a proposal to amend the Dance Bar Prohibition Act to remove a legal lacuna on the ground of which the Supreme Court had struck down the ban on the dance bars.
Ministers in charge of Excise, Home and Parliamentary Affairs departments reviewed the Act and consulted group leaders today. The state Home Department has brought the proposal to amend the Act.
"It was decided at the meeting that all necessary measures should be taken to ensure that dance bars do not start operating again," MNS group leader in the assembly Bala Nandgaonkar said.

In 2005, in a controversial decision, dance performances in the bars in the state were banned but performances at three-star and higher-standard hotels were exempted.
The government could not defend this discrimination when the ban was challenged before the court.
The Supreme Court had last year ruled that bar dancers can resume working after the bars get back their licenses for performances. The apex court upheld the Bombay High Court's ruling that the ban violated the constitutional right to earn a living.
Senior minister and Congress leader Narayan Rane had recently sounded a dissenting note on the proposed amendment. Rane argued any such ban cannot be legally sustainable and will hurt the tourism.