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Why bar women from working at night: HC


MUMBAI: "If a woman works up to 1am it is the society's responsibility to ensure that she is not hassled," the Bombay high court observed on Monday while striking a blow for working women. Hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the law restricting women from working beyond 9.30pm, a division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Ranjit More asked the state to explain the "rationale" behind the rule.Though the petition filed by the Womanist Party of India and other organizations specifically takes up the issue of waitresses in bars who are banned from working after 9.30pm, the law is in fact even applicable to women working in shops and other establishments that are not given special exemptions.
"When it comes to women, the argument is mostly about morality. Conditions are imposed upon women saying it is immoral," said Justice Desai. The court inquired "whether the state can impose such a condition".
The petitions have challenged the rules under the Shops and Establishment Act of 1948, the Public Entertainment Act and the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules.
Arguing against the state bar on women working after 9.30pm, advocate Veena Thadani, counsel for the petitioners, told the Bombay HC, "The rule violates the fundamental rights of 50% of the population."
"In the name of security and safety laws cannot be made that are against women. At the workplace it is the duty of the employer to protect women and outside it is the state's responsibility to ensure their safety whether it is a lawyer, call centre employee or a waitress."The advocate further said that while the 9.30pm ban applied to all firms with a shops and establishment licence, it was only the waitresses who were being targeted. "The waitress in bars are at the receiving end as they come from the lower strata of the society," said Thadani, adding, "Post-9.30pm a woman customer can visit a bar, a singer can sing in the bar, and a lady owner can sit there, but the rules restrict a woman from being employed as a waitress."
"What the logic is we don't understand," said the judges, while asking the state to answer the questions raised in the petition.The state's lawyer said the petition would have to be thrown out at the threshold on a single point-"There is no fundamental right to operate a bar, and a similar right could not be claimed to seek employment in a place where liquor is served." He further argued that the rules allow the government to place restrictions on the age and sex of persons who are employed in public places that serve liquor.This is not the first time that the state government is coming in for flak from the high court over these rules. "Are we living in Nazi Germany?" another bench of the HC had asked during an earlier hearing of the case."What kind of mentality is this that considers women like some commodity who have to be treated differently? Can you tell a citizen of this country that she cannot work at a place because she is a woman or is uneducated?" the court had asked.In an earlier affidavit, the state government justified the ban on the grounds of sexual exploitation of women in such establishments. "The women (who work in bars) come from the poor strata of the society and are prone to illegal exploitation at the hands of male customers and employees,'' the affidavit said. It further contended that women who work in bars could not be equated with "educated women like air hostesses and lady staff working in the hospitality industry.'' The hearing in the case will continue on Tuesday.Laws against working women: There are many rules that discriminate against working women. The Factories Act (1948) bars women from working in factories between 10pm and 6am. Many high courts have held that the ban is unconstitutional. The Bombay Shops and Establishment Act prohibits women from working in restaurants, bars and shops after 9.30pm.Advocate Veena Thadani calls the rules "romantic paternalism", which implies that women are the weaker sex and require protection. According to the advocate, a female CEO of a firm coming under the shops and establishment act or a woman CA would be banned from working in her own office after 9.30pm if the rules are applied.

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