Why Maha govt hasn't allowed dance bars to open in state, asks SC

The Supreme Court yesterday asked the Maharashtra government why it has not allowed a single dance bar to operate and wondered if there was total moral policing in the state The top court questioned the state for denial of licences to dance bars and observed that with the changing times the definition of obscenity has also changed A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said now even the law and society have recognised livein like relationships which earlier were not acceptableQuestioning the state government the bench said why it has not given a single licence for operation of dance bars even after courts repetitive orders and rejected applications It seems like total moral policing is going on in the state the bench said Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade and advocate Nishant R Katneshwarkar appearing for Maharashtra said that all the 81 applicants who sought licences for dance bars did not have clearances from the fire department among other thingsOn the fateful night of December 2829 last year a massive fire had swept through two restopubs at the Kamala Mills compound in central Mumbai resulting in the death of 14 people Naphade further said that in 30 years of his association with Mumbai he have hardly seen a single restaurant which is fire compliant He contended that even today society at large has not changed as far as perception is concerned as no traditional families would allow their children to visit places like dance bars The senior lawyer said whenever a young boy and girl are seen together adverse inferences are drawnThe bench observed that with the change of time the definition of obscenity has also changed and nowadays even livein relationships are accepted by the society and the law the court referred to the domestic violence Act which earlier was not acceptable Earlier filmmakers used to show two flowers or two birds chirping instead of showing kiss or lovemaking scenes in movies but now the time has changed the bench said in a lighter veinHotel and restaurant owners bar girls and others have challenged the new law the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women Working therein Act 2016 by separate petitions At the outset senior advocate Jayant Bhushan appearing for hotel and restaurants owners who have challenged the new law regulating dance bars said under the new law the state has imposed conditions of installation of CCTV cameras in dance bars which was in violation with the Right to PrivacyRepresentational PicturePeople visiting the dance bar may not want to be seen on CCTV cameras or even the bar girls may not want them to be seen on the cameras This was violation of fundamental rights he said The bench said the CCTV installation may not be disputed as it could help in collecting evidences after an incident at the bar The question is whether the dance bars can be considered as public place as in public place CCTV can be installed the court said Naphade intervened and said a dance bar is a public placeBhushan further argued that there is no empirical data to show that bar girls are trafficked or coerced to take up the job in entirety He said that there cannot be a blanket allegation or the data suggests that bar girls indulge in obscene dance or in the flesh trade Moreover indulging in sex trade in India is not illegal per se but what is illegal under the Immoral Traffic Act is running a brothel or trafficking he said He said that people in welloff places say that the dance bars are immoral but at the ground level it is not such a situation It is wrong to take a moralistic view of the dance bars he saidThe hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on August 23 Yesterday the apex court had commenced final hearing on pleas of hotel and restaurant owners challenging a Maharashtra law imposing new restrictions on licensing and functioning of dance bars in the state The Maharashtra government in an affidavit filed before the court had earlier defended the operation of a new law meant to regulate licensing and functioning of dance bars in the stateIt was observed that such dances were derogatory to the dignity of women and were likely to deprave corrupt or injure public morality the state government had said in its reply It was also brought to the notice of the state government that the places where such dances were staged were used as places for immoral activities and also as a place for solicitation for the purpose of prostitution it had saidCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever