The Supreme Court verdict allowing live bands in restaurants and hotels has given Bangalore’s hobbled nightlife a revival the more welcome because it come just in time for the city’s showcase cultural festival, the Bangalore Habba.At Saturday sundown, within a little over 24 hours of the Supreme Court order, dance floors at some restaurants were already back in business on the first evening of the 10-day Habba.Live music acts in restaurants have been on hold since June 23 this year, after the Bangalore police introduced The Licensing and Controlling of Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005, to control the unregulated, unlicensed growth of dance bars in Bangalore.Challenging the order in the Karnataka High Court, the Karnataka Live Band Restaurants Association argued that they had not been given an opportunity to raise objections to the order. The Karnataka High Court refused the petition to permit live band restaurants to operate, but directed the police to reframe the rules after calling for objections.The association along with others, however, moved special leave petitions in the SC against the HC order.On Friday, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Ruma Pal and AR Lakshmanan observed that the HC should have allowed live bands to continue in the interest of the livelihood of those who work in the restaurants. The bench then ruled to permit live bands to return to the city’s restaurants and hotels on the condition that the establishments do not encourage prostitution or indecent shows.Restaurants, lounge bars and discotheques began permitting live music and dance on Saturday night on the wings of the SC’s observation that the establishments could function without public entertainment licences—until the Commissioner of Police frames fresh rules.
