Unfazed by the Supreme Court’s recent verdict lifting the ban on dance bars in Maharashtra, the Congress-led DF Government on Friday indicated that it would promulgate a fresh Ordinance to continue the ban on the dancing joints across the State.
Reiterating that his Government was firm on its stand of not letting any of the dance bars reopen in the State, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil said in the State Assembly: “We will do whatever is needed to be done to ensure the dance bars don’t reopen. We are seriously considering an option suggested by the State Advocate General to promulgate a fresh Ordinance to ensure that the ban on the dancing bars continues”.
Replying to a debate in the Assembly on law and order in the state, Patil said: “Had we not banned the dance bars, they would have mushroomed thus bringing a bad name to Maharashtra”.
“The existing laws pertaining to existing laws of labour, excise, revenue and women and child welfare department are sufficient to enforce ban on dance bars. We will soon convene a meeting of group leaders of various political parties in the State legislature to discuss the ordinance issue. We will then go before the cabinet, after which the ordinance would be promulgated,” Patil said.
The Supreme Court, it may be recalled, on July 16 upheld the Bombay High Court’s April 2006 ruling striking down the legislation banning dance bars in the state.
The Bombay High Court had earlier on April 12, 2006 had struck down a legislation banning dance bars in the state. In its significant ruling on a bunch of PIls challenging the ban on dance bars in the state, a bench of the high court comprising Justice F I Rebello and Justice Roshan Dalvi had then termed as “unconstitutional” an amendment to the Bombay Police Act, enacted by the state government in August 2005, and set it aside.
Given that one of the grounds for the apex court lifting the ban on dance bars was that the 2005 state legislation amending the Bombay Police Act was discriminatory in nature as it had exempted three and five star hotels from the ban, the state government is now toying with the idea of promulgating an ordinance to bring the above-three star hotels under the purview of the ban.
On his part, Patil had earlier indicated that the state government would not be averse to withdrawing dance performance licenses given to three and five star hotels to remove any disparity.