Maharashtra's Dance Bar Update: New Law To Make Reopening Impossible; Will They Ever Reopen?

The Maharashtra state government plans to change the law that governs dance bars in an effort to prevent these establishments from reopening. Many dance bars are currently operating by exploiting loopholes in the existing legislation, according to a Hindustan Times (HT) report.

Government sources revealed that a proposal to amend the law will be presented to the cabinet in its next meeting and will be thoroughly discussed in the legislature.

This decision follows reports from the state home department about attempts to restart dance bars from certain groups. A government official stated that the state aims to amend the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working Therein) Act, 2016. "We want to make the opening of such bars a difficult process so that no one attempts to restart them," the official explained.

The history of dance bars in Maharashtra is complex. After the bars were banned in 2005 under then Home Minister RR Patil, the Bombay High Court overturned the ban in 2006. In 2013, the Supreme Court supported the High Court's decision.

To work around this ruling, the Maharashtra government extended the ban to include high-end hotels and clubs in 2014, which had previously been exempt. However, the Supreme Court reprimanded the government in 2015 for ignoring its earlier ruling that had protected the rights of dance bar owners.

In response to the Supreme Court's 2015 verdict, the Maharashtra government enacted the 2016 law, making it very challenging for dance bars to operate, leading to most of them remaining closed. In 2019, the Supreme Court again criticized the state for this legislation.

Sudhakar Shetty, a member of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), stated in the HT report that he was not aware of the latest developments regarding this issue.