Maharashtra Cabinet Approves New Law to Ban Dance Bars
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday approved a new law to ban dance bars in Mumbai and other parts of the state.Sources say the amended bill has suggested a ban on dance bars in three and five-star hotels. In 2005, the Mumbai Police had banned dance performances in Maharashtra in bars but cleared them for “elite establishments” and hotels that were of three-star standard or higher.
That decision was declared unconstitutional by the Bombay High Court. The verdict was then challenged by the state government which said the performances were vulgar and left women performers vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation and that the bars they performed in corrupted the young and were meeting places for criminals.
The government had claimed that while there were only 345 licensed dance bars, about 2500 unlicensed bars were doing business in the state.
Women activists and lawyers representing dancers were among those who said the government’s stand is sexist and prohibits women from earning a living without providing them with any other employment opportunities.The Supreme Court had last year ruled that bar dancers can resume working after the bars get back their licenses for performances. The top court upheld the Bombay High Court’s ruling that the ban violated the constitutional right to earn a living.
