New Delhi: The Supreme Court today put on hold a controversial law that banned dance bars in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
The apex court, however, said the dignity of women should be protected and it was the duty of the state police to ensure that it was done.
Maharashtra had nearly 700 dance bars that employed more than 75,000 women when the government banned then through a law in 2014. The women performed Bollywood-style dance routines in bars, receiving cash tips from patrons apart from their salaries.
Dance bars have been a contentious issue in the state, and successive governments, cutting across the political divide, have branded them as fronts for prostitution.
After the apex court ruling, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said his government “stood by the law passed by the earlier (Congress) government”. Later, he tweeted:
The law banning dance bars was passed unanimously without a debate in June 2014, after the top court had quashed an earlier law banning dance performances in bars the year before.
But restaurant owners had challenged the law, arguing that the state was thwarting the intention of the court. The court agreed that although it had set aside a similar provision, the law had been brought in a new manner. The court will hear the case again on November 5.
The state police had cracked down on dance performances in bars for the first time in 2005. Elite establishments, including five star hotels, were however, exempted. The state thereafter, bought in a law banning dance routines in all establishments, ndtv.com reported.
The dancers’ union had opposed the ban, saying many of its members would be forced into prostitution if the state refused to allow dance performances.
“We are happy with the decision of court,” said Bharat Singh Thakur, president of the Dance Bar Association. “We always respected the dignity of women. We have been running dance bars since 1997 and there was no complaint against us on obscenity.”