15-day deadline for police to shut down dance bars in Maharashtra: RR Patil

Maharashtra home minister RR Patil’s drive against dance bars, which the state government made illegal in 2005, is tottering to nowhere.

Last year, Patil had announced that the deputy police commissioners would be suspended if such bars are found operational in their jurisdiction.

On Friday, after a television channel featured some dance bars doing roaring business under the police’s nose in areas like Mahim, Kandivli and Goregaon, Patil summoned police commissioner Sanjeev Dayal with information on action taken by the police force against these illegal bars.

After the meeting, Patil admitted that dance bars are indeed operational in many parts of the city, but claimed that they are being run as orchestra bars, which are legal. “Dance bars are running in the guise of orchestra bars in the city. The police have raided dozens of such bars in the last six months and have arrested the people operating them. Bar girls have also been arrested in large numbers. However, the drive will be scaled up in the coming days,” he said.

Patil has now called for action against even lower rank officers if these bars are not shut down.

“I have asked the commissioner to take stern action against senior inspectors of the police stations that have dance bars in the jurisdiction, in next 15 days. The bars are run on days when the police are busy with law and order bandobasts,” he said.

“More than 75% of the dance bars converted their business to restaurants after we enacted the law to shut them down,” Patil added.

Patil also directed the home department to find alternative locations for five city police stations which are in a dilapidated condition, and said that no police station will be shut for lack of infrastructure.

Dayal had drawn the home minister’s attention towards the poor conditions at five police stations — at Khar, Jogeshwari, Shahu Nagar, Vinoba Bhave Nagar and Parksite — and had said that his office was planning to request the government to shut them down.

Patil said his department will find alternative locations for them instead of approving the closure.

“We will ask Mhada, MMRDA and other government agencies to avail us alternative locations in the city for the police stations. I agree with commissioner Dayal that the stations are not in workable condition for various reasons. We will sort out the problem at the earliest,” he said.