Dance bar ban: Owners file PIL in HC

Aahar, a group of dance bar owners in Mumbai, today filed a PIL in the Bombay HC, challenging the Maharashtra government’s ban against such establishments. The ban came into effect from Sunday.

In its petition, the group pointed out that implementation of the Mumbai Police (Amendment) Bill 2005 has rendered around 10 lakh persons ‘‘jobless’’, Aahar representative Manjit Singh Abrol told reporters here. The petition would come up for hearing tomorrow on its admission, Abrol said.

The Mumbai Dance Bars Association and Bhartiya Bar Girls Union also filed separate petitions in the Bombay HC, challenging the State Government’s ban, said president of the bar girls union, Varsha Kale. The bill provides for a ban on ‘‘holding of a performance of dance, of any kind, in an eating houses, permit rooms or beer bars.’’