K'taka HC orders review of B'lore music ban
BANGALORE: Justice NK Patel of the Karnataka High Court (HC) has directed the state police department to reconsider the applications for live bands within eight weeks, during a hearing on Thursday.
The HC gave the order after hearing a petition filed by Bangalore's Cave Caterer's Pvt. Ltd., Four Friends Enterprises and others.
The petitioners had filed a petition in the HC questioning the decision by the Bangalore police commissioner which rejected their applications to start live bands in the city. On April 17 this year, the HC had ordered the state government to dispose of the applications to start live bands within 30 days of receiving them, failing which it was deemed that permission had been granted.
The police commissioner rejected the applications, forcing the petitioners to approach the HC. The police rejected the applications in May this year, citing lack of proper infrastructure to support performances by bands in Bangalore.
On August 16, the police commissioner released a set of conditions for obtaining a license to start live bands in the city. The court has ordered the Bangalore police not to reject any application to run a live band if the applicant would follow the guidelines prescribed by the police commissioner, and to dispose the same within eight weeks.
The month of August saw a series of protests by various organisations protesting the ban on live performances at indoor venues in the city. The move even led to rescheduling of the Independence Rock semi finals in the city last week.
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