Don't stack your notes yet, Maharashtra state in no mood to dance

Dance bars may not open anytime soon as the govt is mulling ways to stall operations. Representationa pic

While the Supreme Court's verdict easing stringent restrictions on dance bars came as a relief to many on Thursday, dance bar owners and performers should be ready to face several hurdles back home, as the state government is mulling on delaying licensing and stalling re-launching the enterprise first banned in 2005.

While the state government said it was in the process of studying the apex court's order, top officials said they had been instructed to find ways to make things difficult for prospective bar operators or those who held such licences before the ban came into existence. Till the time new restrictions are not in place, the licensing authority - the police department - may always delay approvals by raising a question or two, as it had been doing in the past.

Reacting to the order, Nishant Katneshwarkar, state government's advocate, said, "Our main intention was to protect the bar girls and that has been upheld by the court. We will give licences to whoever comes to us after fulfilling the conditions." Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads home department, told mid-day that he hasn't received the judgment and it would be premature to say what his government was planning as its future course of action.

But officials in the know of the matter said they had suggested a formidable way to prevent the patrons from visiting the bars, if any were allowed to operate under licence in the first place. "We have suggested making a rule to identify patrons at the entrance by asking them to produce a [any government-issued] photo identity. This should be done under the pretext of verifying their age, as minors are not allowed in bars and there is a legal cap for consuming alcohol," said a senior official from the Mantralaya.

75k
No. of women employed in dance bars in 2005 before the ban

40k
No. of women who quit the profession after the ban in 2005

What stays, what goes [optional]
. Installing CCTVs at the bar exit-entrance and inside the property will not be mandatory, and most importantly, liquor can be served in the dance enclosure.
. Obscenity is still banned
. SC also allowed state's decision to keep a job agreement with the dancers, with their working hours being 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm
. The court also upheld restrictions imposed on the location of the bars and prevention of showering the money on the dancers

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