Flashback 2016: Government sings to court tune over dance bars

Dance bars were back in focus once again this year. A few of these establishments were granted permission to operate and people hoped that the dancers would hit the floor again, but several roadblocks remain in the way. A court case is still on and the government, too, has come out with several rules intended to 'sanitise' the environment at dance bars. One such rule, which came under a lot of criticism, was that CCTV cameras need to be installed inside the dance bars, with a direct connection to the local police station. Also, locals who live in the vicinity of dance bars came out in strong opposition of the bars, saying it would disturb their peace and vitiate the neighbourhood. The BJP-led state government had claimed that it would come up with a law to ban dance bars. The court, however, allowed the bars to apply for licences and asked the government to look into these applications. The dance bar association had even claimed in November that the Supreme Court has asked the Mumbai police to issue licences for the rest of the dance bars in the city, after three-odd were already given the same.