The apex court, however, allowed three dance bars which were granted licences by the state administration to continue to function under the old rules and directions issued by it from time to time.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan, during the brief hearing, questioned certain new provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016.
“How can there be CCTV cameras in the performance areas? Is it not the <g data-gr-id="56">infringment</g> of <g data-gr-id="48">right</g> to privacy? We have no objection to <g data-gr-id="49">installation</g> of CCTV cameras at the entrance of dance bars,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Maharashtra, said the police cannot be stripped of its investigating right by not allowing CCTVs in the performance areas of dance bars.
“These are security arrangements and CCTV footage is a crucial evidence. Tomorrow, if anything happens in the dance bars, this CCTV footage will help in <g data-gr-id="58">investigation</g>. To ensure that regulations are complied with by the dance bars, we need the CCTVs in performance areas,” Naphade said.
Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan appearing for Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) said the installation of CCTV in performance areas would have a “chilling effect” and breach the right to privacy as people would refrain from coming to the dance bars.
The bench also prima facie agreed to the contention of Bhushan that the regulation that no liquor can be served in the bar where dance is permitted was absurd and irrational.
“This will be a situation like juice bars. They want no alcohol beverages to be served in a bar. What sort of dance bar <g data-gr-id="61">it will</g> be where no liquor is served? It will be like juice bars where dance is separated from the bar,” Bhushan contended.
One of the other regulation which was strongly contested by IHRA pertained to the mandatory condition that dancers are to be employed by the bar owners.
“How can you (state government) force a woman to get employed? It is her choice whether to get employed or not. The condition can’t be forced upon her,” Bhushan said.
Maharashtra strongly opposed the contention of dance bar owners on various clauses in the new law and even questioned locus of petitioners, saying they were before the court as companies and not as aggrieved citizens.
The bench, however, said it would look into the objection at a later stage.
Naphade defended the rule of no liquor being served in the performance area, saying as a state, it has the absolute right to say that no liquor should be served and it can even put conditions to regulate alcohol.
“We have every power to see how alcohol is being served and the state can frame rules to regulate it,” he said.
To this, the bench said “it is a paradoxical situation that there is a bar but no liquor is served. Why don’t you bring law to prohibit liquor in the state? By putting conditions, you have taken out the effect of the judgement, which is violative of Article 19(1)(G).”
The senior advocate said there were several judgements in which it has been said that the state has <g data-gr-id="86">absolute</g> right to say when, where and how liquor should be served.