New Delhi, April 25: The Supreme Court today said that women performing in dance bars was better than women begging on streets or engaging in "unacceptable activities", asking Maharashtra to regulate but not prohibit these bars.

It expressed anguish that the state had enacted a new law banning dance bars within 1km of educational and religious institutions, circumventing an apex court verdict of 2013 that allowed dance bars to operate in Maharashtra.

"A woman's dignity must be maintained but the mindset has to change. Your attitude must not go to the extreme length of prohibition but restrict it to regulation," the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh said.

It advised the state government to look at other options to check possible obscenity, such as surprise inspections.

"Dance is a profession. It becomes legally impermissible if it becomes obscene. There are other regulatory mechanisms. Don't work with the mindset of prohibiting it," the bench told additional solicitor-general Pinky Anand, who appeared for the Maharashtra government.

"It's better for women to perform in dance bars than begging on streets or indulging in unacceptable activities."

Justice Misra observed that when the state's liquor policy did not prohibit liquor outlets within 1km of educational institutions, there was no reason dance bars could not operate within that radius.

The court also frowned on a provision in the new law that requires dance bar owners to install closed-circuit television cameras providing live footage to the police control room to check for obscenity.

The law included this clause despite the Supreme Court having earlier said that there should not be any video-recording of the dance shows.

"How can you record the dance? Have a regulatory mechanism in place, do surprise checks, send your police team - but no recording," Justice Misra said.

Anand said she would get back to the state government and file her reply.

The court also rapped the state for denying licences to restaurants to run dance bars on the ground that they had not obtained a health clearance certificate from the civic agency.

"How can a restaurant run without such a clearance? They already have the licence. They need not apply for it again," the bench observed.

The court is hearing a petition from Mumbai's hotel and restaurant association against the new law, which was passed unanimously on April 13 and notified on April 20.

The petitioners' counsel, Jayant Bhushan, has argued that the CCTV requirement violates citizens' fundamental right to privacy and to carry out any profession of their choice.

Under the new law, the dance shows can be held only between 6pm and 11.30pm, and liquor cannot be served in the performance area.

Dance bars are banned from residential buildings, and can operate out of semi-residential buildings only if three-fourths of the residents approve.

Dance bar owners and operators can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to Rs 25,000 for violating the new law.