Mumbai:
A year after the Supreme Court cancelled a ban on dance bars in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government has passed a law to continue the ban on dance bars across the state.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has now passed a new law to impose the ban unanimously without a debate. All political parties are on the same page as far as ban on dance bars are concerned. The law has been passed by the Legislative Council as well.
In July last year, the Supreme Court allowed hundreds of premises which employ women to dance and entertain customers to reopen.
The law passed by the cabinet imposes a ban on dance bars in three and five-star hotels as well.
In 2005, the Mumbai Police had banned dance performances in Maharashtra in bars but cleared them for "elite establishments" and hotels that were of three-star standard and above.
That decision was declared unconstitutional by the Bombay High Court in 2006.
The verdict was then challenged by the state government which branded the bars in Mumbai as dens of iniquity and fronts for prostitution. It claimed they corrupted the young and were meeting places for criminals.
Bar owners, activists and non-governmental organizations hotly contest those allegations, saying the establishments only staged dance shows.
The estimated 700 establishments across Maharashtra state employ more than 75,000 women who perform Bollywood-style dance routines and get cash in the form of tips in return.
The dancers' labour union had opposed the ban, saying many of its members would be forced into prostitution to earn a living.