“Placing CCTVs in dance bars to be monitored by cops 24×7 is a regressive parameter, and breach of privacy,” observed the bench of Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice Shiv Kirti Singh during the final hearing on dance bars in Mumbai. It also said that this was breach of privacy.
The Supreme Court today adjourned the case to March 1.
The two-judge bench went through the conditions to grant licence, and said that few conditions are unreasonable.
It further directed the government to reconsider them.
The court also observed during the hearing, “Dance is an art, and those who perform are artists. It is time to think beyond gender bias. A person’s livelihood should be respected.”
It also mentioned self-censorship, saying that those who think it is obscene, they will not visit dance bars, and those who don’t, will.
Pinky Anand, ASG represented the state government while senior advocate Jayant Bhushan appeared on behalf of hotels.
Dance bars were banned in Maharashtra, in August 2005, with the passing of the Maharashtra Police (Amendment) Act, 2005, affecting the livelihood of around 75000 bar girls or ‘bar balas’ as they are commonly known.
The first dance bars were opened in Khalapur in Raigad district of Maharashtra, in the early 1980s.