) Nearly a month after the Maharashtra government announced its controversial decision to ban all dance bars, authorities are still struggling to find a legal framework to implement the shutdown.

The state's law department, entrusted with the task of framing guidelines to ban dance bars across Maharashtra, is finding it hard to justify the move under the existing legal provisions, said home ministry sources.

"There is no provision for banning dance bars in the existing legal framework. Comprehensive changes are required in some of the acts to ensure that the ban stands the legal scrutiny in court," said an official source.

"First of all, the term dance bar has to be redefined in a way that the ban doesn't affect pubs or other entertainment shows that have female dancers. It has to be categorised as a separate industry altogether," the source told.

The government wants to prepare strong legal ground before implementing the ban order since the directive is likely to be challenged in the court by the dance bar owners, officials said.

Manjit Singh Sethi, president of the Fight for Rights of Bar Owners Association, has threatened to take legal help against the ban after receiving the government notification.

"We can't even approach a court to challenge the government directive without any legal notification in hand," Sethi told

"All the bar owners have unanimously decided to take legal action against the ban order. We will wait for a clear picture to emerge in the days ahead before taking the ultimate action," he added.

The Maharashtra government said in March that all dance bars in the state, except in Mumbai, would be banned. The shutdown was extended to Mumbai last month. A timeframe for implementing the ban had, however, not been finalised.

Over 2,000 dance bars operate in Maharashtra, India's most industrialised state. Apart from the dancers, the bars employ thousands of others as waiters and for other jobs.

The bars are seen by many as fronts for prostitution rackets, though the bar owners and the girls themselves strongly deny this.

Meanwhile, the women working in dance bars have urged the government to formulate a rehabilitation package before implementing the shut down decision.

The women say that without a clear rehabilitation programme, many of the estimated 75,000 dancers in bars across the state would be forced into prostitution.