BOMBAY, 13 April 2006 — A two-member bench of the Bombay High Court consisting of Justice F.I. Rebello and Justice Roshan Dalvi, quashed the government ordinance that banned dance bars in the state.
The court struck down the ban on dance bars, saying the closure that left thousands of young women jobless was unconstitutional.
While delivering the judgment, the court gave the government two months to file an appeal against the verdict.
“The eight weeks is also the time that will be needed to renew licenses of the dance bars if the government decides not to petition the Supreme Court,” said Varsha Kale, a spokesperson for the bar girls.
The dance bars were banned on August 15 last year through an amendment in the Bombay Police Act. Petitions against the government’s ordinance were filed by bar owners, bar dancers, women activists, social workers and non-government organizations.
The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association argued before the court that the decision of the government was unconstitutional as it affected 3,000 establishments and deprived more than 80,000 bar dancers of their livelihood.
The government countered the arguments by saying the girls were not given a free choice to become bar dancers as most of them were lured into the profession by middlemen who promised them jobs. However, the judges did not agree with the prosecution’s argument and struck down the ban.
After the ban was imposed, thousands of dancers found themselves out of work, with many moving to other states to earn a living, while others were reported to have become prostitutes.
The dance bar owners and the bar girls had then approached the state high court seeking to revoke the prohibition on the grounds that it violated their right to equality in terms of choosing their employment.
