NEW DELHI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- India's Supreme Court has lifted the government ban on dance bars in Mumbai, bringing cheers to hundreds of women bar dancers.
A two-judge bench of the court, headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Tuesday permitted women to dance again in bars, by upholding an earlier order of the Mumbai High Court allowing such performances which used to be a part of the financial capital's famous night life till eight years back.
The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra had in 2005 banned dance bars in capital Mumbai "to ensure safety of women and to curb obscenity," following which hotel owners had moved the High Court which ruled in their favor in 2006.
The state government subsequently challenged that order in the Supreme Court which has now ruled that the ban by the state government was "an overreaction" which reflected lack of thinking to search for viable alternatives, and resulted in large-scale joblessness among women bar dancers.
"The discontinuance of bar dancing in establishments below the rank of three star establishments has led to the closure of a large number of establishments, which has resulted in loss of employment for about 75,000 women employed in the dance bars in various capacities," the court said.
It added: "In fact, a large number of imaginative alternative steps could be taken instead of completely prohibiting dancing, if the real concern of the state is the safety of women."
Quadruplet sisters and their family
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