Mumbai: Cultural centres and other public entertainment establishments in Maharashtra will continue to be governed by their existing licensing rules, with the state govt clarifying that its July 27 circular on orchestra permissions does not apply to them.In a clarification issued on Friday, the state home department said the July circular was confined exclusively to permissions for establishments hosting actual live musical performances (orchestras) in hotels, restaurants and permit rooms. It does not cover cultural centres or any other category of public entertainment regulated under the rules framed by police commissioners and district collectors under Section 33(1) of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951.The question was whether such applications should be dealt with under the public entertainment rules framed under the Maharashtra Police Act or the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016.The home department has directed all police commissioners and district collectors to process fresh licence applications and renewal requests for cultural centres and other entertainment establishments in accordance with the existing rules applicable to their respective jurisdictions and established procedures.
