Saturday, June 11 2005 11:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The fate of thousands of bar girls still remains uncertain with the Ordinance banning dance bars in Maharashtra awaiting the approval of Governor S M Krishna.

Krishna, who returned from abroad yesterday (Jun 10, 2005), has so far not signed the ordinance, Raj Bhavan sources said.

The Governor will leave for Pune today (Jun 11, 2005) on a day-long visit, sources added.

The sources further said the Governor had earlier sought information from the state government on issues of rehabilitation of the dance bars raised by organisations before receiving the copy of ordinance for approval.

The Maharashtra Government had prepared the ordinance after the minutes of the cabinet meeting were cleared on June 1 and had sent it to the Governor's office for approval on June 3. The promulgation of the ordinance got delayed as the Governor was abroad.

The announcement of ban on dance bars was announced by Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil on March 30 during the Assembly session and decision to this effect was taken on May 18.

Once getting into implementation, the "Bombay Police (Ammendment) Ordinance 2005" will exempt three and five star hotels as well as pubs from the ban while those bars violating it would face imprisonment of three months to three years and a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh apart from cancelling the licenses for eateries and permit rooms.