Playboy’s first India club rejected in Goa

Friday, 19 April 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Authorities in India have rejected a plan by the adult entertainment company Playboy to open its first club in the country, in Goa. “Playboy’s proposal would not be considered by his Government on technical grounds,” Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said. The club was planned to open on north Goa’s Candolim beach.

Playboy, along with several other adult magazines, is banned in India under its obscenity laws. PB Lifestyle, the Indian firm with rights to the Playboy brand that plans to set up eight Playboy Clubs over three years and have 120 clubs, bars and cafes in 10 years, has not yet commented on the development.

Reports said the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Goa had rejected the proposal after misgivings in the party. BJP legislator Michael Lobo reportedly alleged that the Playboy club would promote ‘vulgarity’ and threatened to go on a hunger strike if it opened.

Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar was quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency as saying that there had been a lot of debate on ‘the promotion of vulgarity’ if the Playboy Club were set up. The Goa club was planned to be 22,000 sq ft. In 2012 Bollywood’s Sherlyn Chopra became the first Indian to pose naked for Playboy.