Representational image | Photo Credit: PTI

Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted conditional re-opening of dance bars that were shut down by the Maharashtra government on 15 August 2005. The SC decision was hailed by bar dancers, who had otherwise been suddenly left without a job due to the ban.

The decision to close dance bars in Maharashtra was imposed by late RR Patil, who was the home minister in the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in the state.

In its 100-page judgement, an apex court bench headed by Justice AK Sikri stated that there can be "regulations" but not "total prohibition" as far as dance bars were concerned.

"From 2005 to date, not a single person has been given a licence (to run a dance bar). It cannot be done. There can be regulations but it cannot amount to a total prohibition," the bench said.

The SC further quashed some provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016, which had imposed restrictions on their licencing and functioning.

However, the bench upheld the provision limiting the timing of operation of dance bars from 6 pm to 11.30 pm. It, however, struck down the provision of the 2016 law which made the partition between bar-rooms and the dance floor mandatory.

What is allowed in dance bars

Women dancers

Discotheque, orchestra

Alcohol

Payment of direct tips to the dancers

What is banned in dance bars

Obscene gesture by customers

Showering of money during dance performances

CCTVs inside dance bars

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