DNA Edit: Striking a balance - Dance bars can operate in regulated environment

The tussle between the Supreme Court and the Maharashtra government over the reopening of dance bars have continued for a while now with both sticking to their respective positions.

Though a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri upheld the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) Act, 2016, it scrapped or diluted many of its provisions.

The government claims that the ruling “does not reflect the public sentiment in Maharashtra which was against dance bars” even when “the SC has upheld the state government’s condition that there would be no obscenity in the dance bars and that there would a contractual agreement between the bar dancers and owners”.

Now that the twin issues — obscenity and contract — have been resolved, will dance bars finally reopen? What about the attendant social costs? The government’s main grouses were that many of these bars peddled prostitution and that many a family had been ruined because of men spending their earnings on dancers.

In fact, its strict provisions were aimed at deterring dance bars from opening shutters. At the core, several issues are at stake: the right to conduct business, ensuring that dancers are not exploited in any manner, and that the public behaves responsibly in such establishments.

While there can be strict regulations, a blanket ban cannot be a solution to the problem. Dance bars are now replaced by orchestra bars where women sing but do not dance. Again, the state government had also failed to provide an alternative vocation to the dancers. Many of them were the sole breadwinners for their families. A regulated environment works best in such a scenario.