Ex-dance bar body chief fails to get HC relief on externment

MUMBAI: Former President of Mumbai Dance Bar Owners' Association Manjitsingh Sethi has moved the Bombay High Court challenging the police order barring him from entering the city for a year.

The Court, which will hear his case on December 18, however, refused to grant an interim stay on Saturday. Sethi had invited Maharashtra Assembly's censure last year for his outburst against the government over the dance bar ban, which was set aside by the High Court later.

He had to undergo three-month imprisonment for committing breach of privilege. He had threatened that bar girls would not let ministers' wives move on the streets if the ban was not revoked.

Police issued externment order against him last month, weeks after the Sessions Court convicted him in a 1997 abduction case. He got bail in this case as his appeal is pending before the High Court.

The externment order says Sethi was likely to cause 'alarm to public'. It also mentions that Sethi was suspected be involved in a prostitution racket.

Arguing his case before a Bench of Justices RMS Khandeparkar and Amjed Sayed, Sethi's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani alleged police were harassing his client under political pressure.

Public Prosecutor Satish Borulkar, however, pointed out that Sethi could have appealed to the higher police authorities under the Bombay Police Act, and need not have rushed to the High Court.