New Delhi, Aug. 30: The Supreme Court today disapproved the practice of patrons throwing coins and currency notes at women dancers, saying it "affects someone's dignified culture or decency".

But in the same breath, it questioned other provisions of the Maharashtra government's new law - it has brought in the provision barring throwing of money - to regulate dance bars.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C. Nagappan issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on the new law challenged by the Indian Hotels & Restaurants Association of Maharashtra, hinting that the legislation, which seeks to mandate installation of CCTVs in all dance bars and prohibit serving of liquor, would be stayed.

However, after senior counsel Shekhar Naphade, appearing for the state, urged the court not to stay the provisions and sought three weeks to file a response, the court desisted from granting an interim stay as sought by the hotel owners' association.

The top court, however, found justification in the state banning throwing of coins and currency notes at women dancers, a practice glorified in several Bollywood movies.

"It's difficult to treat this as unconstitutional. Prima facie we do not find any illegality in this provision, which shows respect for women. This (bar) is not a silver screen. It (permitting monetising) affects someone's dignity, culture and decency.

"Issue is not if she minds it or not. A person watching a dance cannot throw coins or currency in a way affecting someone's dignified culture or decency," the apex court told the petitioner's senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, who had said the rule was discriminatory because it did not stop anyone from tipping a singer or a bar dancer.

The senior counsel argued that the dancers have no problem in accepting the tips. Bhushan claimed that throwing coins and currency was one way of offering tips to the performers. But Justice Misra said dance bars should operate in a decent way.