Maha govt to bring in legislation against dance bars: Fadnavis

Mumbai, Mar 8: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said a Bill will be introduced during the budget session of the state Legislature beginning here tomorrow, to stop the dance bars from reopening.

The announcement comes in the wake of Supreme Court's order last week asking the BJP-led Maharashtra government to grant licences to dance bar owners within ten days after they comply with modified guidelines.

"We will bring in a firm law in this Budget session, that would stop the dance bars from being reopened in the state. In the past, when we were in Opposition, we had twice supported Congress and NCP to pass the Bill (in this regard).

Today, when we are trying to earnestly do something, the Opposition is playing politics on the issue," Fadnavis told reporters on the eve of the Budget session.

Rejecting Maharashtra Government's certain conditions, the apex court had on March 2 asked the state to grant licences to dance bar owners.

"We are inclined to modify the conditions of installation of CCTV cameras and providing the live footage to the police. We direct that the CCTV cameras shall be installed at the entrance only and not at the restaurant or performance areas," the Supreme Court had said.

Stating that government cannot permit obscenity, Fadnavis had last week said that they would approach the apex court with an alternative.

He had added that his government was also mulling a suitable legislation in the state Legislature on the issue. Addressing the press conference today, Chief Minister also said that 15 Bills will be tabled in the Budget session, including the Prevention of Social Boycott Bill.

Apart from this, seven pending Bills will also be tabled and five ordinances will be converted into Bills, he added. Hitting back at the Opposition for demanding a white paper on the MoUs signed by the state government during last month's 'Make in India' week held in Mumbai, Fadnavis said all details pertaining to these deals would be put up online.

"We have faced a lot of criticism from the Opposition on this issue. I want to clearly tell them that we have formed a task force to keep a tab on each and every MoU signed during the week.

We will also put the details of all the MoUs and their progress online which will then be easily accessible to all without filing RTI queries." Maharashtra government had attracted around Rs 8 lakh crore worth investment commitments during the 'Make In India' week.

PTI