FRESH HOPE: A woman at a Mumbai dance bar

Mumbai, June 23: Maharashtra governor S.M. Krishna today refused to promulgate an ordinance banning dance bars and asked the Democratic Front government to table it as a bill in the legislature during the monsoon session beginning on July 11.

Krishna has tossed the ball back in the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition’s court and routed it to the legislature. The move means that the closure of dance bars would get further delayed, giving relief to bar girls and bar owners who plan to take the fight to Bombay High Court.

The associations of bar girls and bar owners termed the development the “victory of the truth”, while the Dance Bar Virodhi Manch, the pro-ban lobby, threatened to take to the streets if the bars were not shut down.

A delegation of bar girls had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to seek her intervention, sowing seeds of rethink among party leaders in the state.

That the ban was spearheaded by the NCP also prompted the Congress to soft-pedal the issue. Deputy chief minister and NCP leader R.R. Patil, the architect of the ban, refused to comment on the governor’s decision, while the BJP hinted that it would support the bill.

In a statement, Raj Bhavan spokesperson U.R. Kashikar said: “The governor has thought it appropriate in keeping with the parliamentary traditions and conventions for the proposed Bombay Police (Amendment) Ordinance, 2005, to be introduced in the coming session of the legislature as a bill.”

Krishna’s decision comes a day after a delegation of the Dance Bar Virodhi Manch, representing 25 non-government organisations, met the governor and urged him to sign the ordinance.

“In keeping with the parliamentary practices and conventions, ordinances are not promulgated when the legislature has been convened. The governor, on the recommendation of the cabinet, issued orders on May 31, 2005, summoning both Houses of the legislature to meet on July 11, 2005. There are enough precedents in Maharashtra itself where ordinances were not promulgated in view of the ensuing legislative session,” the Raj Bhavan statement said.

Justifying the decision, the statement said ordinances are promulgated when immediate action is necessary.

While Krishna returned the dance bar ordinance, he signed another ordinance amending the Electricity Act, 2003, which would help ease the power crisis in the state. “The reason for this approval is that in this case immediate action is warranted in the public good, namely prevention of theft of power,” the statement said.

The legislators have already discussed the bar ban during the budget session in March. Peasants’ and Workers’ Party MLA Vivek Patil from Raigad district had raised a calling attention motion on banning of dance bars and the legislators had discussed the issue in detail.

Dance Bar Virodhi Manch convener Vidya Chavan said: “We will intensify our campaign. We will write to the MLAs explaining why they should support the bill.”