Mumbai dance bar ban gets the Raj Bhavan snub

Despite reservations in certain sections of the government, the draft ordinance was cleared by the state Cabinet on June 1 and sent to the Governor for his approval a day later.

Announcing his decision to return the ordinance after a day-long meeting with officials at Raj Bhavan, Krishna said, ‘‘There are enough and more precedents in Maharashtra itself where ordinances were not promulgated in view of the ensuing legislative session.’’ ‘‘There are times when circumstances may arise which compel immediate action to be taken so that public interest does not suffer. The power to promulgate an ordinance is essentially a power to be used to meet an extraordinary situation.’’

Calling for a debate on the issue, the Governor said it would be in keeping with Parliamentary conventions and tradition for the proposed Bombay Police (Amendment) Ordinance, 2005 to be introduced in the forthcoming monsoon session of the legislature as a bill. To make his point, the Governor said that he had approved an ordinance amending the Electricity Act, which was sent along with the one banning dance bars. The reason for this approval, he said, was that in this case, immediate action was warranted in the public good, namely prevention of theft of power. While admitting that the Governor acted within his constitutional rights, Deputy CM R R Patil made his annoyance apparent: ‘‘It would have been better if he (Krishna) had asked us for clarifications.’’

Patil said he had written a personal letter to Krishna requesting him to sign the ordinance. ‘‘Now we will take the Bill in the monsoon session of the legislature.’’

The Governor had given clear indications even yesterday during a meeting with the Dance Bar Virodhi Manch that he did not consider the issue urgent enough to merit an ordinance. Although parties across the spectrum have backed the ban, concerns regarding the rehabilitation of the over 70,000 women employed as bargirls in Mumbai have grown.