Supreme changes ruled in favour of Dance bars in Maharashtra: Check out new guidelines

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Thursday eased out rules for dance bars operating in Maharashtra. In the major change, the apex body allowed serving of alcohol in the dancing area of the bar.

A provision that says a dance bar should be located at a minimum distance of 1 km from a temple and educational institution has been scrapped; the court said it is unreasonable in Mumbai and legislation must take a decision on this.

The apex body also allowed tips for the dancers, however, it maintained that cash cannot be showered on the dancers. A rule of partition between bar rooms and dance floor has also been cancelled by the Supreme Court.

The new rules come after a group of dance bar owners had objected to the restriction of maintaining a 1-km distance from any religious or educational structure claiming it was not possible in big cities. 

In 2016, the government had unanimously passed The Dance Bar Regulation Bill that prohibited serving of liquor in the dancing areas. It also prohibited operation of dance bars post 11:30; a heavy penalty used to be imposed on the bar owners and guests for not following these rules.