The Supreme Court has allowed dance bars to function in Maharashtra, thereby temporarily lifting the ban. This decision may clear the path for dance bars to return in the state.
Reacting to the top court’s decision, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that his government will comply with the order, and strictly regulate obscenity in bars.
The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a petition challenging the ban enacted by the Maharashtra government. The government had banned dance bars on the grounds that they disrupted law and order and were a breeding ground for illegal, underground activities.
However, in the petition filed by the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association and counsel for restaurant owners, Jayant Chushan and Prasenjit Keswani said that the state disregarded an earlier ruling of the apex court and reintroduced a ban that had been ruled as unacceptable and unconstitutional.
The ban jeopardised the livelihoods of 75000 dancers, and the hotels and restaurants said that the ban rendered their licenses useless, which they purchased in compliance with the apex court ruling.
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