Chaitanya.MarpakwarMumbai:The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Maharashtra Police Act and Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The bill, which amends the 2016 Act, brings live music performances in hotels and bar rooms under the ambit of the dance bar law, seeking to plug licensing loopholes that allowed illegal dance bars to use orchestra permits under the Maharashtra Police Act. The bill was introduced by minister of state (MoS) for home, Pankaj Bhoyar.The bill seeks to end a practice that Bhoyar said allowed dance bars to operate by obtaining orchestra licences instead of permissions under the state’s Dance Bar Act. The bill introduces “live music performance (orchestra)” within the purview of the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act and excludes licences of live music performance in hotels, restaurants and bars from the purview of the Police Act.Bhoyar said after the 2016 Act, the number of dance bars operating significantly reduced but bar owners found a way around the 2016 law by obtaining orchestra licences under the Police Act and using them to conduct dance performances. MLAs from the treasury and opposition benches questioned the govt over what constituted an ‘obscene’ dance. NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad asked who was going to decide if any dance was obscene and it was just a bill to please a particular section of society but instead looks to hurt a section of society and professions like Tamasha artists would suffer because of the misuse of such a law. BJP MLA Ameet Satam said that if this law is violated in the jurisdiction of any police station, then police officials must be taken to task since if responsibility is not fixed the law will have no impact. Satam said the local Senior Police Inspector must be held responsible for the violation and this amendment must be made part of the bill before it is passed. NCP MLA Anil Patil said that prominent singers and dancers must not be hurt by this new law and their performances must not be banned.BJP MLA Sudhir Mungatiwar said the definition of obscene was relative and subjective and each one views obscenity with their own lens. Many MLAs said this bill was introduced only keeping dance bars in Mumbai in mind and could hurt genuine singers and dancers who give live performances in towns and villages.Congress MLA Nitin Raut said the govt must clarify if women will not be pushed further into exploitation.Bhoyar said dance bars are currently regulated through the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working Therein) Act, 2016. The state mandates strict operating hours, written contracts for performers, and amended the Maharashtra Police Act to prevent bars from exploiting orchestra permits to host live dances.“It has been observed that, to evade the restrictions imposed on dance performances in hotel, restaurant or bar room under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) Act, 2016, live music performances (orchestra) licences granted under the Maharashtra Police Act are being used as an alternative for dance performances licences in hotel, restaurant or bar room under the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act. To curb this practice, the govt considers it necessary to bring live music performances (orchestra) within the purview of the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act and to exclude the licences of the live music performances (orchestra) in hotel restaurant or bar room from the purview of the Police Act,” the Statements and Objectives of the bill state.Officials said some establishments were using licences for live music performances as an alternative to licences required under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working Therein) Act, 2016, to evade restrictions imposed on dance performances in hotels, restaurants and bar rooms.To plug this loophole, the bill proposes to bring live music performances (orchestra) within the purview of the 2016 Act while excluding licences for such performances from the ambit of the Maharashtra Police Act.
