No entry to 'scantily dressed' women in Chandigarh pubs

 Next time, while visiting a discotheque or a pub in Le Corbusier-designed capital city Chandigarh, mind your dress.

Discotheques and bars could be in trouble for scantily dressed women within their premises. Chandigarh’s upscale image notwithstanding, Babu’s governing the city have drafted a policy according to which permission to a bar or a discotheque could be denied in case of “exhibition or advertisement of scantily dressed women” and “indecency” or if it is “seditious” and likely to excite political discontent.

The developments have sparked outrage across a cross-section of people terming the move as retrograde.

Bar-timing in the city too has been curtailed by two hours.  Effective April 1, bars have been directed to shut down by midnight. Social media is flooded with criticism, ridiculing the move. 

The draft of Chandigarh’s policy “Controlling of Places of Public Amusement 2016” does not classify scantily dressed women or indecency, neither does it elaborate on sedition. UT Home Secretary Anurag Agarwal, however, on Wednesday said no dress code or a ban has been imposed on mini-skirts at discotheques.

He claimed the policy was being misinterpreted.
The nodal committee that monitors such places of amusement can revoke permission for running such a business if it is considered to be indecent, to be seditious or likely to excite political discontent, contains offensive reference to personalities, promotes hostility between different classes. Talking to DH, Harsimran Kaur, principal of a prominent school in the city, ridiculed the move asking if the policy also talks about scantily dressed up men in bars and discotheques. “This kind of moral policing is undesirable. It’s outlandish to say the least. People framing such rules need to grow up,” she said.

Nodal committee that monitors such places of amusement can revoke permission for running such a business if it is considered to be indecent,  seditious or likely to excite political discontent