Maharashtra: Relief for dance bar applicants in Supreme Court interim order

(Representational photo)

In the ongoing tussle between the state and dance bar owners over restarting of dance bars in Maharashtra, the latter stated that a Supreme Court interim order, passed on Thursday, has asked the state government to approve applications for restarting dance bars. The police, however, said they would wait for a copy of the detailed Supreme Court order before commenting. The final order in the matter is slated to be issued by the SC on January 11.

Adarsh Shetty, president of AHAR, an association of bars and restaurants, said, “We welcome the interim order passed by the SC on Thursday. The order directs the police to grant licences to the 33 applications pending before them for restarting dance bars. It has also asked the police to process fresh applications from those who want dance bar licence.” He added, “In an earlier order, the SC had asked the police to grant licences to three dance bars as per the law that was in force in 2005, when dance bars had been banned in the state. Even today, the SC has asked the police to process these applications as per the 2005 guidelines.” Shetty said the SC gave an interim order Thursday and the final verdict will be passed on January 11.

Senior police officers, however, said they would wait to see the SC order before commenting on the issue. “It takes nearly two days for the order to come through. We will study the order and accordingly take necessary action,” an officer said. He added that the guidelines in 2005 were much more relaxed as compared to the recent stringent law brought in by the state to govern dance bars.

Shetty said they were not celebrating as yet and were maintaining a “wait and watch” approach. “We will not begin any preparations for restarting dance bars. First, let us submit our application and get licence. Once that is through, we will begin preparations. It will take us only two weeks to get the dance bars up and running once we get permission.”