Case Comment: Indian Hotel And Restaurant. Vs. Jagdish. V. Shetty, Government Of Maharashtra

Swarangi. Vikas. Bhagwat, BBA.LLB, IFIM Law School, Bangalore

BOMBAY HIGH COURT (APRIL 12, 2006)

Citation: 2006 SCC OnLine Bom 418 : (2006) 3 Bom CR 705 : (2006) 108 (2) Bom LR 1193 : (2006) 4 AIR Kant R 20 (NOC) 489 : (2006) 5 All LJ (NOC 976) 24

INTRODUCTION

“Katha kahe so, kathak kahave” is what beautifully snugs the meaning of classical kathak dance. This dance form gracefully twirls in the restaurants and bars of various parts of Maharashtra, showcasing semi-classical, mujras, and bollywood styles by young men and women. Apart from being a recreation for some, it is practiced by these people as a profession and this dance is what gives them their daily food and shelter. This class of labor mostly survives on daily wages and is economically backward which makes it important for them to work almost everyday. The dance bars in Maharashtra constitute employees including waiters, chefs, artists who sing and dance for entertaining the customers, technicians and hospitality management workers. When the Government of Maharashtra had appealed in the High Court of India in 2005 to impose a ban on dance bars as there were illegal criminal activities taking place whose origin was the “dance bar”. The Government also stated that the Maharashtrian youth and housewives need to be protected from the dangerous “lure” of the “bad women” who work in dance bars as performers. The High Court at that time ruled in favor of the Government and thus over 70,000 labor workers lost their jobs and were left to starve. The decision was reversed by the Supreme Court in 2019 as it believed that the Government cannot impose it’s morality on a society which has a different mindset. This is a positive side but thousands of people who lost their jobs at that time just because of the previous judgement is unacceptable and is unfair.