SC relaxes dance bar norms in Maharashtra: Big takeaways and how concerned parties reacted

The court said a rule that dance bars should be 1 km from religious places and educational institutes are "no reasonable " in Mumbai.

Performers at dance bars can be paid tips but they cannot be showered with cash, the top court said.

The Supreme Court also backed fixing the time and asking dance bars in the state to operate from 6 pm to 11.30 pm.

The rule requiring a partition between bar rooms and the dance floor was also cancelled by the court.

The Supreme Court struck down a provision that the owner of the dance bar should have a "good character" and no "criminal antecedents". "There is no precise definition of what amounts to good character and criminal antecedents," the court.

Compulsory installation of CCTV cameras was also struck down by the court that said the rule  violates privacy. 

Maharashtra government will check any "untoward activity" taking place under the garb of dance bars, home minister Ranjit Patil said Thursday, and asserted that it will respect the Supreme Court verdict on the issue.

The apex court has agreed to several provisions of the state's law on dance bars, including time restrictions and no showering of currency notes on performers, the minister said.

"The state has not received a written copy of the court order. Once we get that, we will study it and decide further course of action," the minister of state for home (urban) said.

"We are committed to abide by the court's verdict and respect it. Within the ambit of the decision, we will maintain vigilance so that no untoward activities happen under the garb of dance bars," Patil said.

"The government presented a weak side before the Supreme Court in the case due to the nexus between the government and association of dance bar owners. Because of this nexus, the present situation has emerged," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

Social activists here Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict which paves the way for reopening of dance bars in Maharashtra.

Stating that there can be "regulations" but not "total prohibition", the Supreme Court has set aside some provisions of a 2016 law imposing restrictions on their licensing and functioning.

The Bharatiya Bar Girls' union president Varsha Kale, who has been fighting for the cause of bar dancers, termed the apex court ruling as a great "victory".
"We have won this case several times (in various courts), but this victory is bigger," she said.

Bureaucrat-turned-activist Abha Singh hailed the apex court's order as "progressive", and said the state government can regulate dance bars but cannot prohibit them.

Singh said she is happy that the Supreme Court quashed the state government's provision to install CCTV cameras in dance bars as it violated the right to privacy and discouraged people from coming to dance bars.