Hailing the Supreme Court’s directions to allow three licensed dance bars to operate in Mumbai as per the old rules, a licensed bar owner heaved a sigh of relief stating that they will be back in business from Friday along with concealed CCTV units monitoring the inner premises. The owner, who heads the dance bar association, added that the move to install CCTV cameras is aimed at deterring the police from making false accusations and harassing them.
Three dance bars — namely Indiana in Tardeo, Airo and Sai Prasad in Andheri —were issued new licences in May. The chairperson of Dance Bars Association and owner of Indiana Bar, Bharat Thakur, told this newspaper that out of the 26 conditions listed by the state in its new Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women Act, they would follow only a few. “While we are not installing the barrier, we will keep a rope railing dividing the two areas, which is one of the conditions,” Mr Thakur said.
While the owners have hailed the SC ruling, they still fear that the police will not let them function peacefully.
This newspaper had recently reported that all the three bars were planning to approach senior police officers, alleging harassment by officers from local police stations.
“They keep coming up with fake cases against the dance bars. But this time, we have decided to take every possible precaution. We are planning to install hidden CCTV cameras in the dance bars, which will record activities of all the customers, including the police officers if they visit. This way, in case the officers conduct a sudden raid and claim to find huge amounts of cash or a prostitution racket running in the dance bar, we will be able to prove that the cash was planted or the women caught were not our employees,” said Mr Thakur.
