Dance bar girls, owners welcome SC move

In July 2013, the Supreme Court had upheld the right of women bar dancers to follow their profession and dismissed the government’s appeal to ban them.

Varsha Kale, president of the Womanist Party of India, who has been fighting for the rights of bar dancers, said, “This should have happened long ago. The bar dancers have not been given any avenues of employment. For the past nine years, they have been traumatised. Some lost their lives, some lost their homes. Despite all this, we have been working peacefully. Give us a valid reason of not issuing the licences.”

Women rights activist and lawyer Flavia Agnes, who has also been working for the rights of the bar dancers, welcomed the step. “It is good to see that the Supreme Court is taking action in favour of these girls.”

However, both Kale and Agnes said they were wary that the the matter could fizzle out before the Vidhan Sabha elections.
Arvind Shetty, president of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), said,” The state government should have respected the order issued by the honourable SC. The law is above all, so the home minister should also abide by it.”

Ganesh Rai, a bar owner from Chembur, said both the bar owners and the women employed at the bars have suffered a lot due to Patil’s “stubbornness”.

“It is not just about the bar (dance) owners but about bar girls, whose lives were severely affected due to the state government’s decision to shut bars in 2005,” said Kuttiyan Shetty, an owner of another dance bar in Mulund.

The Dance Bar association had filed over 100 separate petitions challenging the state government’s move to shut dance bars in 2005. Backing the Bombay High Court’s verdict quashing the 2005 ban, the SC had questioned why Maharashtra did not find it to be indecent or derogatory to the dignity of women if they worked as a receptionist, waitress or bar tenders at such bars.

(With inputs by Santoshee  Gulabkali Mishra and Megha Sood)