It is celebration time for Mumbai dance bars and thousands of girls who performed there. The Supreme Court on Tuesday ended the eight-year ban imposed on them by the State Government.
The apex court upheld a Bombay High Court ruling of April 12, 2006 striking down the State Government’s order as unreasonable and unconstitutional since it deprived thousands of girls of their right to livelihood.
More than 75,000 women were employed as bar dancers in about 2,500 dance bars in the State. The State Government’s decision had also snatched the means of livelihood from over 1.5 lakh people engaged in menial jobs with these bars.
Upholding the HC order, the apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice SS Nijjar struck down Sections 33A and 33B of the Bombay Police Act. In the name of public order, the State had cracked down on dance bars, claiming that they were hot spots for criminal activity and vulgarity.
Dismissing the State’s contentions, the Court sided with the Association of Bar Owners who focused upon the plight suffered by thousands of women rendered jobless. “It is a big relief to the thousands of bar girls and lakhs of staff members who faced unemployment after the State Government order,” said Manjeet Sethi, president of Bar Owners’ Association. Similar reaction came from several NGO representatives who pursued the cause of bar dancers.
The State Government mulled legal options to file a review of the SC order. “We have not yet received a copy of the Supreme Court ruling. A panel comprising lawyers,
legal consultants and legislators will study the order and
submit a report to the State Government,” Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil said.
Maharasthra Opposition parties slammed the State for its failure to stub out dance bars. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre said there should be a strong law to ban dance bars, while Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) State chief Bhaskar Jadhav said that “people of the State” support the ban on dance bars.
SP leader Abu Azmi said the Government had failed to do its “homework” in court, which led to this ruling. State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis termed the SC order “unfortunate” and said, “The Maharashtra Government remained careless on the issue.” Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe said there was no need for dance bars and women are exploited in such bars.
The High Court had sought proof from the State to suggest that by preventing dance at bars, crime will decrease. Moreover, there was no direct link to show that bar dancers were indulging or abetting in criminal activities. For this reason, the High Court had vindicated the cause of the bar owners when it held, “In what manner dancing by women in dance bars results in increase in crime which would constitute a threat to public order at least is not discernible.
Inebriated men, whether in dance bars or other bars are a known source of nuisance. The State has not cancelled the liquor permits to remove the basic cause of the problem.”
The court had taken a humanitarian view and said, “We must bear in mind that many of these women are widowed, deserted or divorced. They not only work as dancers, but also as waiters and other allied jobs in the prohibited establishments to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. That some may be exploited is no answer to prevent others from earning their livelihood by a vocation of their choice.” As many as 72 per cent of the bar girls were married and 68 per cent were sole bread earners of their family, the NGOs representing bar dancers had informed the apex court.
While the State refused permission for dance in bars, dance performances at places visited by the rich and well-to-do sections of the society was allowed. This factor too might have weighed with the court to hold the ban as discriminatory and arbitrary.