‘Bar dancers are only exercising their right to livelihood’

In a fresh development, the Supreme Court on Monday told the Maharashtra Government in no uncertain terms that they will have to issue licenses to the dance bars by May 10 and these will be based on the conditions that were laid down earlier and not the new bill passed by the State Assembly.

Dance bars in the state have been shut since 2005 following an order by the State government which said that these places encourage obscenity and vulgar behaviour.

Reacting to this development, Adarsh Shetty from the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (AHAR), the court has clearly said that the dancers should be allowed to pursue their profession since they are working hard and not begging on the streets. “The court has said that the dancers are only exercising their right to livelihood and the state must issue the licenses that will allow them to do this,” he said.

Shetty said the SC has said that regarding the few conditions that are still under dispute for giving the licenses, the court has said that these can be taken up later. “For example, the state government had said that there should be CCTV cameras covering the entry and exit points and also the performing area, to which the SC had said that only the entry and exit points need to be covered,” he added.

When asked if they will ask for contempt of court in this matter, Shetty said that the SC has already said it to the state government in no uncertain terms that it will not tolerate it if its orders are not followed. It seems that the SC is aware that the state administration is deliberately delaying the issue and action will be taken if this behavior continues. “The fact is that there are around 145 applications pending with the state government and they have complied with all the pre conditions laid down by the courts.

When asked about this development, a senior police officer connected with the hotel licenses department said that they are going to study the order in detail and then decide on their future course of action. “But the situation is that we get pulled up by the courts if we do not issue the licenses and get targeted by the state government if we decide to issue the licenses,” he added. It will be tough for them to decide on how to deal with this situation, especially when a new law has been passed by the state government, though it is yet to come into effect.