Dance bar owners upbeat
Following an order by the Supreme Court today that has allowed three dance bars to function under the earlier laws, bar owners appeared upbeat and said that this development marks a turnaround in the fight between them and the state administration.
According to Adarsh Shetty from the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (AHAR), the three bars that have been allowed to restart are Indiana, Uma Palace and Natraj and they will be taking the necessary steps for this purpose. “The most important thing for us that these bars will be allowed to function under the law that existed before 2005, when the dance bars were shut down,” he pointed out.
Shetty argued that not allowing liquor to be served in the performance area does not make any sense and this is the reason that it was question by the SC. “If the bars are paying all the necessary fees for the licenses and the permits, then why liquor cannot be served in the performance area,” he said.
Responding to the issue of installing CCTV footage in the performance area, he said that it is simply not possible for the police station staff to be monitoring these places. “There are around 1015 dance bars in some police station areas and how will be keep looking at the live footage from all of them,” he wondered. On their part, the dance bar owners have said that they will store the footage from the CCTV and share it with the police if it is needed in any crime investigation, he revealed.
The AHAR president said that the bar owners will now start the process of contacting the bar dancers and other staff that will be needed for starting the performance. Reacting to query on the performance fees of Rs two lakh being forfeited by the state administration, Shetty said that when the SC has allowed these bars to function under the old laws then there is no question of the fees getting forfeited. “The SC will give its final ruling on this matter in its next hearing in November,” he added.
When asked to comment on this, a senior police official said that there is no question of allowing the bars to start without their meeting all the 26 conditions laid down by the state administration. “We are yet to get a copy of the order after which we will decide what next steps are to be taken,” he said. There is an element of law and order and the safety of women that is involved in the business of dance bars and hence the new dance bar law was passed earlier this year, he said.
“When the SC has allowed these bars to function under the old laws then there is no question of the fees getting forfeited.”