OK To Dance

The ruling upheld an earlier Bombay High Court judgment that found a ban on club dancing instituted by the Maharashtra state government violated the constitutional right to “earn a living.”

Many of the clubs under question employ women dancers. The judgment is seen as a corrective to the idea of “moral policing” that has taken hold in Mumbai in recent years. Mumbai is considered the capital of the Bollywood movie-making industry as well as India’s financial center.

The city’s police have been fervent in enforcing various laws that regulate public behavior, including early closing hours for nightclubs, excessive red tape to open entertainment-related businesses, rules on overcrowding and an increase in the drinking age from 18 to 21. With the recent decision, clubs with dancing will now be allowed to operate freely. These clubs were on hiatus while the state government appealed the previous decision.