Supreme Court gives Maharashtra govt 14 days to grant licenses to dance bars

The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra government to grant licenses to dance bars in Maharashtra within the next two weeks. In an interim order passed Justices Dipak Misra and Shiv Kirti Singh, the Court also modified certain conditions imposed by the Maharashtra government on the dance bars for obtaining license..Senior Advocates Jayant Bhushan appeared for the petitioners while Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand represented the Maharashtra government. Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan appeared for Bharatiya Bar Girls Union (BBGU) which has intervened as a respondent..Speaking to Bar & Bench BBGU President Varsha Kale said that the Union chose to approach the court against the arbitrary conditions imposed by the state government. Kale also said that there were around seventy bars whose licences would be renewed soon..At the last hearing, the Court had heard Bhushan at length, recording his objections to certain conditions imposed by the Maharashtra government. The court had then sought the response of the government regarding the same..Yesterday, the court considered the government’s submissions before proceedings to modify certain conditions. They are, inter alia, as follows:.The condition mandating a 3 feet high non-removable partition covering the stage from all sides has been modified. The Court has now directed that a 3-feet high railing be installed between the dancers and the customers.Four dancers will be permitted on the stage at any point of time and other dancers have to wait in other spaces which can be inside the premises.The condition mandating that the character of a dancer has to be verified has been read down to mean that criminal antecedents has to be verified.The condition laying down that there should be no concealed cavity or room within the premises now comes with an exception permitting creation of a green room.Condition requiring installation of CCTV cameras inside the dance bar has now been read down and it needs to be installed only at the entrance of premise and not inside the restaurant or performance area..The court has afforded the dance bars three days to comply with these conditions whereupon the government will be obligated to issue license within 10 days. The matter will now be heard after two weeks.. Read the complete order below.