Govt will not allow immoral acts: Minister

Mumbai: Paving the way for dance bars to reopen in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Thursday held the state government has “somehow developed the notion that (dance) performances in the dance bars do not have moralistic basis”. However there was no “material or empirical data in the perception garnered by the State”, the SC order in its order. Soon after the SC order, the state government reiterated that it will not allow any immoral activities in the state under the guise of dance bars.

Minister of state for home, Ranjit Patil said that the government will respect the Apex court verdict on the issue. The SC 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,” Mr Patil 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,” the minister added.

However, soon after the SC verdict was out, it snowballed into a political controversy. The opposition parties as well as BJP’s alliance partner in the government alleged that there is a nexus between the government and dance bars because of which the state did not argue strongly in the SC.

The Shiv Sena said Thursday that the government failed to make the law regulating dance bars foolproof. Senior Sena leader Anil Parab said it was unfortunate that the apex court did not uphold the Bombay High Court’s ruling, as the objective behind the 2016 law was noble. Sena is a partner in the BJP-led government in the state.

“Why did the SC make amendments to provisions of the law? Was it because these provisions were unconstitutional or because we (the state government) did not present our side effectively?” asked Mr Parab, who is the member of the state legislative council.

NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik alleged that a nexus of BJP leaders, the chief minister and bar owners’ association was responsible for the government losing the case in the SC.

“We will go to the people with this issue and we will again ban dance bars after our party comes to power,” Mr Malik said.

Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan also alleged that there was a conspiracy to allow dance bars to reopen in the state which is why the government did not argue the case properly in the SC. “Dance bar association had made contribution towards Chief Minister Relief Fund in 2016. The nexus between the government and dance bar owners became clear that day itself. The SC had allowed the dance bars to reopen in 2016 after which the BJP government enacted new law only as the face saving exercise. Now the SC has set aside all stringent provisions from the 2016 law also,” he said.

A section of lawyers welcomed the judgement and said the SC has drawn a balance between the rights of citizens and duty of the state to govern, while the others said the government’s law imposing restrictions on the licencing and functioning of dance bars should have been upheld in totality.

Senior lawyers opined the apex court has taken a balanced approach towards the issue and ensured the rights of both the government and citizens are not curtailed.

Activists welcome apex court order
Social activists have welcomed the Supreme Court verdict which paves the way for the reopening of dance bars in Maharashtra even as the state government has said that it will look out for “untoward activities” under the garb of dance bars.

Stating that there can be “regulations” but not “total prohibition”, the SC Thursday set aside some provisions of a 2016 law imposing restrictions on licensing and functioning of dance bars.

President of the Bharatiya Bar Girls’ union, Varsha Kale, who has been fighting for the cause of bar dancers, termed the apex court ruling as a “great victory”.

“Around 75,000 women were employed in dance bars when the state government decided to shut them down in 2005 for allegedly promoting obscenity. While over 40,000 women left the profession and took up other odd jobs for a living, around 35,000 women were still working as waitresses and singers in various hotels,” she said.

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

Manjit Singh Sethi, who spearheaded the fight to reopen dance bars and earlier moved the Bombay HC, also welcomed the decision. Several bar dancers were forced to join the flesh trade after the state government snatched their means of livelihood, said Sethi, former president of the dance bar owners’ association.

Advocate Uday Warunjikar, however, felt the apex court should have upheld all the provisions of the 2016 law. “It is a major setback to the government. The apex court ought to have considered the social impact of the legislation,” he said.

Mr Warunjikar further  said the provision making CCTVs mandatory inside dance bars should not have been quashed. “If CCTV inside a dance bar infringes upon a person's right to privacy, then CCTVs installed in all public places will have to be removed,” the lawyer said.