The Supreme Court on Thursday said that Maharashtra cannot ban dance bars by taking recourse to regulate them, noting that since 2005 no licence has been issued.

"Since 2005 till date, no licence has been issued. There may be regulation but that does not amount to a total prohibition," said a bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan.

Indian bar girls perform at a dance bar in Bombay.
Indian bar girls perform at a dance bar in Bombay May 5, 2005. The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday endorsed the decree seeking to ban dance bars in the stateReuters file [Representational Image]

Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Sikri said that there could be no segregation of dance stage and that of drinking and eating space as it struck down the provision for "mandatory" installing of CCTV cameras in the dance bars holding that it violates privacy.

The court upheld the definition of obscenity given in the State law saying that it was not vague.

Holding that those visiting the dance bar could give tips, the court said no to the showering of money during dance performances.

The court held as "unreasonable" the provision that says that a dance bar should be one kilometre away from religious places, hospitals and educational institutions.

However, it left it to the state legislature to take a call on the issue.

Striking down the provision that said that the owner of the dance bar should have a "good character" and no "criminal antecedents", the court said: "There is no precise definition of what amounts to good character and criminal antecedents."