India, Feb. 12 -- Wearing small clothes and dancing in a bar is not a crime unless it causes public annoyance, a Delhi court has ruled while acquitting seven women accused of obscenity.

The judgment, delivered on February 4 by additional chief judicial magistrate Neetu Sharma of Tis Hazari Court, also cleared the manager of the bar of charges related to operating without a license and failing to maintain proper CCTV surveillance.

The case is related to an incident in March last year at a bar in Delhi's Paharganj.

According to the prosecution, seven women were allegedly dancing in an obscene manner, disturbing the public, leading to a case under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (obscene acts and songs in public places).

Exonerating...