Mumbai: Social activists have welcomed the Supreme Court verdict even as the state government has said that it will look out for “untoward activities” under the garb of dance bars.
President of the Bharatiya Bar Girls’ union, Varsha Kale, who has been fighting for the cause of bar dancers, termed the apex court ruling as a “great victory”.
“Around 75,000 women were employed in dance bars when the state government decided to shut them down in 2005 for allegedly promoting obscenity. While over 40,000 women left the profession and took up other odd jobs for a living, around 35,000 women were still working as waitresses and singers in various hotels,” she said.
Bureaucrat-turned-activist Abha Singh hailed the apex court’s order as “progressive” and said that the state government could regulate dance bars but could not prohibit them.
Manjit Singh Sethi, who spearheaded the fight to reopen dance bars and earlier moved the Bombay HC, also welcomed the decision.
State home minister Ranjit Patil said, “We are committed to abide by the court’s verdict and respect it. Within the ambit of the decision, we will maintain vigilance so that no untoward activities take place under the garb of dance bars.”
